Mega Man X: Maverick Hunter X4
by mewmaster93
Summary: After the demise of Sigma at the hands of Doppler's sacrifice, the world has entered a temporary state of peace. However, a sudden attack on the Sky Lagoon leaves the governing protectors of Repliforce under suspicion of being Mavericks, and forces them to stage a coup in self-defense. X and Zero are tasked with hunting down the rogue Reploids, but this is just the start of tragedy
1. Chapter 1

_It has been six months since the demise of Sigma and the collapse of Doppler Town. With the revelation that Sigma had been a virus responsible for the rise of Mavericks, efforts doubled down to figure out a way to identify Mavericks and perhaps cure them of the virus. Though Dr. Cain and Dr. Doppler were gone, there were still plenty of brilliant minds who offered their services to humanity's governments. One particular Reploid who rose to fame was Dr. Isoc, who had come up with a way to isolate the newly dubbed "Sigma Virus" from Reploid bodies and extract it._

 _However, with these new advances came more organized Maverick crime. Groups of Mavericks took up arms in the name of the fallen Sigma, believing him to have been the savior of Reploid kind, and that humans are just trying to suppress their freedom. Though there were less Mavericks these days then there were before Sigma was around, the fact that they were more prone to work together made them almost as much of a threat as the forces Sigma had gathered in his first rebellion._

 _But at the same time, the Maverick Hunters and their allies from Repliforce were stronger than ever. With their united forces, they were able to cover plenty of ground and stop most of the Mavericks from getting out of hand. The leader of Repliforce, General, received exceptional praise for his guidance in these battles. Humble as he was though, General always credited his work to three particular Reploids. X, Zero, and Colonel._

 _X has grown famous as a one-man peace keeper, and it's been said that he's been able to manage most of his mission without the need of an operator. Zero, with the help of his operator Iris, have managed to take down the most Maverick operations in recent months. And Colonel has been hailed as a charismatic leader and a man who cares greatly for the safety of both Reploids and humans._

 _In fact, it was Colonel who suggested to the government that Repliforce be given a main base of operations that would allow them to give sanctuary to Reploids and humans that were victims of this war. However, his request was denied by Dr. Isoc, who mentioned that the resources aren't available to build such a place during these trying times. However, not long after that, General and Colonel were visited by a mysterious cloaked man…_

In the dead of night, with rain pouring in buckets from the thundering clouds, Colonel and General held their meeting in a mansion. The room they were in was kept warm by a crackling fireplace, and it had shelves of books that General liked to read in his spare time. General himself was an imposing machine. His body was big and heavily armored with golden alloy plates, and his fists were wrapped in gauntlets filled with weapons. Yet his face portrayed a patient and disciplined figure, and his hooked mustache bore his age well.

Standing to the left of him was Colonel, and across the table sat the cloaked man who wished to see them both. General, in a deep but quiet tone, inquired to his company "What is it you wish to say, stranger?" The shadows of the man's hood hid a sinister grin that could only be seen briefly as lightning flashed through the nearby windows.

"It's about your recent request to the humans, General…and why you were denied the right to your sanctuary." The figure spoke roughly, like there was rusted digging into his metallic throat. General raised his brows and remarked "It was a matter of priority. I hold no offense to the humans for deciding against our plan for now, if that is what you are assuming."

"Really now?" The man drew out a hand from his cloak and told him "What if it was something else? Do you take interest in what I have to say then?" General glared at the man and roughly said to him "What do you know?"

"A generous number of things, General. Most important of all though is what the humans truly think about Repliforce." After a pause to gauge the surprised reactions from General and Colonel, the man continued "They believe you to be a threat. Ever since the realization that Mavericks are created by a virus, they are cautiously observing the behaviors of the Reploids closest to them. Not just Repliforce, but the Maverick Hunters as well."

Colonel yelled out "That's absurd!" Slamming his fist on the table in front of him, the Reploid exclaimed "We have been nothing but loyal to the humans for years! Why would they suspect us now?!"

"Humans are very good at listening to their own paranoia, if nothing else. You are, after all, the strongest military force on the planet. If even one of you were to turn, then it would bring great catastrophe upon the humans. You have done yourselves no favors by asking for your own private base." The cloaked man's voice, though reeking of smugness, were filled with numerous truths that General did indeed take notice of.

"Unforgivable! I will not have you drag our name through the mud like we're Mave-" Colonel's rage was subdued with a brush of General's hand upward. The patient Reploid placed it back on the table and remarked "It is because of the incident with Doppler, isn't it?"

"Hehehe, you catch on quickly, General. Yes, it is because of that foolish doctor. The humans have had a much harder time trusting the Reploids ever since that incident. Actually, that's not correct…Ever since Sigma first turned Maverick have the humans been paranoid of all Reploids. They put up a face of benevolence, but at any given second they will just turn on you. There are only a few Reploids the government truly trust. The Maverick Hunters X and Zero, Dr. Isoc, and Signas just to name a few."

Colonel's eyes widened, and for the first time he found himself listening to what the man said as his eyes creaked wide open and he murmured "Not…Iris?" The man grinned through his cloak and answered ominously "Yes, dear Colonel, not even she is exempt from their paranoia."

Colonel's face tensed up in a scowl as he glanced aside. The man then looked to General and remarked "All it'll take is one misstep, and the humans will turn against you. Do you honestly believe that-"

"Enough." General garnered a gasp of shock from the man with his interruption. General glared him in the eyes and said "The humans have every right to be worried, considering these trying times. But I will still do everything in my power as the General of Repliforce to earn their trust, not betray it."

General stood up from his chair, towering over Colonel as turned around and remarked "You are dismissed." The man was not defiant. He grinned and stood up from his chair, but not before remarking in an ominous tone "We'll see how long that feeling lasts soon enough, General." As the man walked out of the room, he left the two officers of Repliforce with a demonic, echoing laugh…

 **MEGA MAN X: MAVERICK HUNTER X4**

 **Chapter 1: Calamity at the Sky Lagoon**

 _A few weeks later…_

Laying in his resting pod to recover from his recent missions was the crimson Maverick Hunter Zero. He had been in there for the last twelve hours, and if robots could dream then his deep slumber would probably be filled with them.

" _Zero…"_

A whisper followed by a flash of white light, however, wrenched him from the comfort of rest and brought him to stand out of his now open capsule. The light blurred his gaze as he looked ahead and saw a shadow standing in the center of this pale flash. All he could discern was their ruffled mustache, lab coat, and wickedly raspy voice.

" _My masterpiece…Zero."_

"Who are you?!" Zero demanded to know in a moment of aggressive confusion.

" _You will destroy him. My nemesis' greatest work…It is our rivalry that spurns my will to life."_

" _Go…You WILL destroy him. Destroy…"_

The man's figure faded before his eyes, but as Zero tried to pursue them with questions burning in his mind he found himself dropping to his knees and gripping the sides of his head. Pain ripped through him like a cyclone, and in that whirlwind lied dozens of memories that Zero could not at all piece together. That shadowy figure was seen again smiling at him as he was put into a capsule, there were Reploids that were violently mangled at his feet with red oil dripping across his hands, Sigma was briefly there with a frightened look in his eyes, and finally there was a crooked "W" that flashed before him.

Then this nightmare ended all too suddenly by a siren blaring within the Maverick Hunter HQ, which alerted to everyone present in the building "Attention all available Maverick Hunters! This is an emergency! You are to assemble immediately! I repeat…Assemble immediately!"

Zero's head still throbbed in pain as he registered the command given to him. With a melancholy mumble of "That same nightmare…again…" he put on a rough expression and sprinted out of the room. Making his way through the metallic hallways, Zero soon ran into his fellow comrade-in-arms X, who joined him from a hallway roughly adjacent to the one he ran down.

X looked at his buddy and struck a casual conversation with him "Did you sleep well Zero?" Zero shook his head and remarked "Had another nightmare. Don't know why these keep happening."

With a concerned glance X told him "You should see a doctor. I heard that Isoc guy's a specialist in Reploid neurology." Zero brushed his hand out but said in an appreciative tone "Thanks for the suggestion X, but I'm not in a doctor trusting mood right now."

"…R-Right, I should've known." X promptly apologized, hanging his head a little while Zero changed the subject with a remark of "Haven't had an alert like this in a while. Must be a pretty big gathering of Mavericks."

"We'll have to be careful. I heard a shipment of advanced weaponry was stolen recently." X responded in a somewhat worried manner. Dutiful as he always is, Zero responded "We'll find out soon enough."

The two entered the command room soon after, finding it occupied with dozens of their fellow Hunters. Signas was at the center of the room, and the navigators were busy typing away at the computers. X looked to the left and saw an empty chair where Alia once sat, and he hung his head a little and found himself missing her. Meanwhile, Zero could look to the chair where his partner Iris usually sits at and feel safe knowing she's just out on a meeting at the moment.

The two's reflection of current times would end when Signas firmly addressed them. "We have no time to waste. Area 5567 is currently under siege by Maverick forces." Zero's eyes widened as he asked "That's the Sky Lagoon, isn't it?"

"Yes Zero." Signas' swift response got Zero clenching his right fist while thinking _"Iris is in the city below there…"_ Signas then remarked "Magma Dragoon from the 14th Unit was stationed there for protection, but we've lost all communication with him. We fear the lagoon's power core may be destroyed by the Mavericks if left undefended. Your mission is to head to the Sky Lagoon and destroy all the Mavericks, and if possible find and bring Magma Dragoon back to base."

"Roger!" The Maverick Hunters exclaimed with a salute. Before they left for battle, Signas gave one final warning "We have heard rumors of the assailants carrying an advance weapon. Be careful if it happens to show up."

Everyone ran off, with X and Zero sticking together as they made their way for the teleportation room. X noticed the fierce ire in Zero's eyes and scowl and thus asked "You're worried about Iris?" Zero clenched his fist before his chest and said "I had a feeling something would happen to her if she went to that meeting. I should've tried harder to keep her from going."

"We'll rescue her, and stop Sky Lagoon from crashing." X laid a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, and the Reploid smiled and said in an appreciative tone "Thanks X, I needed that." The two then got on their separate teleporters, with Zero reaching for the handle of the sword on his back and gripping it tightly. His body was tense, but he knew he had to stay focused for what was to come.

The two were sent away in a flash, reappearing far away from the Hunter HQ in the middle of a massive city. There were buildings towering towards the sky around and below a hovering paradise whose buildings were connected together by a series of sleek metal roadways and now broken glass tubes. Spotlights flashed towards the night sky, focusing on the flying Maverick dragonflies that were assaulting the Sky Lagoon with bombs so the Hunters could target them.

X looked towards the path of carnage carved by the Mavericks and swung his right fist out in anger. "They've caused so much destruction. How could they do this…?" Zero swung his green energy blade out beside his body and responded "They don't care what destruction they cause. Come on X, the reactor core's up ahead."

With eyebrows arched, X nodded his head and changed his right arm into his infamous buster, dashing ahead with the help of his rocket propulsion boots and shooting pellets of yellow energy at the Mavericks along the road. Zero, on the other hand, sprinted ahead without any gadgetry to assist him and sliced through the Mavericks with clear precision.

X and Zero functioned perfectly as duo, with X's buster able to pick off Mavericks that were trying to assault Zero from behind while he took care of the Mavericks that were giving their fellow Hunters trouble. Not long after sprinting down the road, the two were blocked by a cracked, sealed door. Luckily for them, two of the Hunters assigned to this mission were demolition experts and they quickly placed C4 charges on the wall, both which blew up and took down the wall when X fired his buster at them.

The Hunters gave a salute as X and Zero ran past them and continued on towards the reactor building. As they were halfway towards their destination, a bellowing roar came from underneath the road following by a gust of wind being blown up by the flap of mechanical wings. A massive green dragon rose up before the view of the two Hunters. It had four claws on each hand that could tear through a whole squadron of Mavericks with ease, and it's wings were large enough to rip through even the most structurally secured buildings.

This behemoth roared again and immediately set it's sights on the duo, slamming it's right claw into the bridge to puncture it clean through but missing his rather mobile targets. X rolled after his evasive leap and immediately charged energy in his cannon, remarking to Zero "This must be the advanced weapon Signas was talking about!" as he fired a massive blue blast of energy at the dragon's face.

The beast ripped through the attack with little effort from it's claws, then spun it's body to the left and brought it's wing down to slice right through the road. The halves of the road began to split apart from each other, and all the Hunters on the other side along with the remaining Mavericks plummeted towards the city and likely to their demise. The road X and Zero were on was not much better off, as it began to crumble from the edge.

X commented "He's tough. I can't hit him from here!" while Zero exclaimed "Then forget about him for now!" as he rapidly swung his sword at the next door in the way to cut down an escape route for them. When the scraps of metal crashed on the other side after a single thrust of Zero's palm at the center of where he cut, he glanced back and said "Lets just get to the core. He's too big to follow us inside!"

Zero then leaped back when the dragon tried to pierce his body from above, breaking into a sprint towards the building directly in front of him. X fired a charged shot at the claw to damage it slightly, then leaped off the back of it while using his boots to propel himself forward and catch up with Zero. The two made a mad dash for the last door in their way as the road's deterioration worsened, not helped by the dragon piercing it with it's claws in it's rampage to kill the two Hunters.

At the last door, Zero flipped around and grabbed his sword in both hands, swinging it straight up and piercing the palm of the dragon as it tried one more attack. Zero held his ground even with the floor crumbling below him, but through his grunts he exclaimed "H-Hurry up X!" X pointed at the last door and prepared a charged shot, gritting his teeth in hopes that Zero could hold out. When he fired upon the door, a hole large enough for them to slide through was blown through. X went through to the other side and once on his feet exclaimed "Get out of there Zero!"

Zero took a couple steps back and then put all his strength into ripping his blade through the dragon's hand, cutting one of it's claws off and making the beast retreat with a pained roar while Zero slid into the building. As the two charged through the decimated hallway, explosions started to go off all around them while Mavericks broke their way through the ceiling to escape. X grit his teeth and continued to run while remarking "Are we too late?!"

Zero did not want to comment on the matter, as his mind was too concerned with what would happen if they were too late. At the end of the hall the two smashed through a sliding metal door and found themselves on a small metal bridge suspended in front of a now busted energy core. Zero looked horrified as he saw that sight, while X looked on ahead and saw someone kneeling at broken end of the bridge.

It was a red Reploid with a sleek bipedal frame and the face of a dragon. His shoulders bore spikes that slanted down partway, his hands were gloved with purple leather and his feet had three claws apiece. Strangely though, he wore a necklace of green prayer beads. X ran closer to him and exclaimed "Magma Dragoon! You're alive!"

With the roughness of a warrior, Magma Dragoon growled "X…? Didn't think you'd be my rescue party." X got beside the Reploid and offered his shoulder as support to help him get onto his feet. X inquired quickly "What happened here?"

Magma Dragoon coughed and responded "T-The Mavericks came in all of a sudden and overwhelmed me. I can't stop them from attacking the core. F-Forgive me X and Zero, I did everything I could…" Zero swung his hand out and exclaimed "Is there nothing we can do to stop this?!"

"…No." Magma Dragoon gave a heavy breath, and Zero clenched his left fist before stating to X "You take Magma Dragoon back to HQ! I'm staying behind to get Iris!" X blurted out in shock "You can't be serious! This place is going to take out half the city, you can't survive that!"

"My parts made it through the destruction of Sigma's base, I think I can survive this if I get behind the door." Zero promptly pointed out. X could see the determination in his friend's eyes, and he understand that the concern for his partner Iris was the reason for that feeling. X arched his brows and remarked "Don't do anything else reckless Zero. I'll return with back-up after I'm done."

With his support given, X teleported back to the Hunter HQ with Magma Dragoon in tow. The explosions grew bigger and shook the Sky Lagoon out of the sky, where Zero could feel the pressure of it's descent bringing him to his knees. He used his strength to stay on his feet and turn around, running out of the room and slamming the door shut right as the Lagoon crashed into the surface.

An explosion goes off, wiping out all the buildings within a mile, while a wave of flames lashes forth and sets fire to even more buildings. Countless lives, both human and Reploid, were purged from their mortal coil in an instant. The once peaceful city had now mostly become a wasteland of embers and ruins, and the failure to stop the Lagoon from crashing would become a weight on X and Zero's conscience for years to come.

After hearing the crackling fires churning in the ruins for a few seconds, Zero pushed away the rubble surrounding his body and slowly walked forward. His body felt a little weak at first, but his spirits were even weaker. If he had a stomach, it would churn at the sight of all this destruction. He saw skeletons burning and Reploids disassembled in his wake. Thankfully, none of them were Iris.

But that was only a trite relief for Zero, who swung his sword out and growled in anger "All this destruction…It's horrible…The Mavericks will pay for this!" He then sprinted ahead towards the ruins, trying to peer past the waves of heat that blurred before him while repeatedly yelling out Iris' name. With buildings crashing into the ground and the fire crackling, his voice would only reach her when he was very close.

Mavericks still lingered in the area, but they quickly fell to Zero's angered slashes as he scaled the debris to get a better vantage point. He leaped across the top of unstable buildings to get through the ruins. "Iris! Iris! IRIS!" He screamed a few more times, but this time he'd finally hear a meek response.

"Z-Zero…?" It came from the north, and hastily Zero vaulted off the building and landed on the ground while saying Iris' name again. The sound of that weak voice was a little louder this time, prompting Zero to look out and see someone struggling to get off the ground. He ran ahead like nothing else mattered until he finally reached Iris, who laid her hands on the ground to try and get back on her feet. Her frightened, innocent face was marred with scuff marks, but a little hope returned to it upon seeing Zero.

"Z-Zero? Y-You…came to save me?" Iris murmured in surprise. Zero ran up and wasted no time in helping her to her feet while asking "How badly are you hurt? Can you walk?" Iris took off her hat and brushed the dirt off it, hiding her smile behind it as she told him "I-I'm fine Zero. But all these people…"

Zero took another glance out towards the ruins and remarked in a bitter tone "Don't worry Iris…I'll find out who's responsible for this." He clenched his fist together tightly and growled "And make them pay." Iris laid embraced his arm in her hand and looked at him with a disapproving stare. She shook her head slowly and said "Please Zero…no more today. There's already been enough lives lost."

Looking at the sorrow in Iris' voice made Zero feel a tinge of guilt, but even still he could not just ignore the harsh reality of the world. Speaking softly "I have my job as a Maverick Hunter Iris…Lets just get back to base and figure out our next move."

Before he could even send a message to HQ, a grim shadow was cast upon the two. Iris tightly hung to Zero's arm as he looked up and saw a demonic shadow flying against the burning crimson skies. He could tell that it was the dragon from before, and more than likely it was here to finish any survivors. Zero pushed Iris behind him and drew his Z-Saber, exclaiming as a warning "Get to safety! I have to destroy this thing before it can escape!"

"Be careful Zero!" Iris yelled before running to safety behind the nearby debris. She poked her head out just enough to watch as that monstrous dragon blew away the heat and flames with a single flame of it's wings before landing on the ground right before Zero. The Hunter wasn't even taller than one of it's feet, and it's bulky, intimidating form gave Iris fear that Zero would not be able to win.

Zero spread his legs diagonally and stared straight into the beast's bloodthirsty eyes, gripping his blade in both hands and declaring to the behemoth "Had your fun you ugly brute?! It's time for you to become scrap!" The dragon responded to such boldness by lunging it's undamaged claw straight at Zero, who leaped right on top of it and ran along the arm. With quick slashes at the limb he eventually got off it and cut down one of the pipes connecting the shoulder to a fuel supply on the back.

That caused the left arm to go limp immediately while oil sprayed from the wildly swinging pipe. Zero flipped off the creature's back as it slowly turned around and opened it's mouth, assaulting his foe with a barrage of blue electric spheres. Zero showed his finesse with the blade by using just one slash for each sphere, followed by him grabbing the blade in both hands and swinging it down to send a wave of energy straight at the beast's legs.

His attack grinded against the hard metal and sent sparks furiously flying until it was breeched, revealing the vulnerable wiring underneath. Some of the beast's oil splashed into the scar thanks to Zero's attack, and the Hunter dug his sword into the metallic ground and dragged it along as he charged right at the beast. It swung his claws at him, but Zero ducked to avoid them and then used the sparks grinding out from his blade to ignite the oil.

Zero ran past the monster and dove at Iris, tackling her further behind the debris so when the oil went off inside the dragon, the ensuing explosion would not hit them both. However, he still swung his sword up to block the shrapnel that flew out and pierced through the rocks, with Iris shrieking in fright once throughout. When things had definitively calmed down, Zero slowly peeked his head over and found that all that stood of the dragon was one of it's feet. Everything else was now part of the ruins it helped create.

The Hunter walked out and sheathed his blade on his back, approaching the remains of the dragon and looking around it. There was a single panel on the ground that drew his attention, so he picked it up and gave it a look. Though scuffed, there was enough there for Zero to draw a gasp of disbelief when he recognized it. The symbol on the panel was a slanted blue "R" with a star in the space.

"R-Repliforce?" Zero couldn't bear to say that name. It had to be a mistake. Many thoughts ran through his head, none of them able to make sense of how Repliforce could possibly be behind this attack. And yet here this symbol was, on a weapon that was responsible for a majority of the casualties here today. In his bout of curiosity, Zero would hopefully soon find answers as Colonel ran up to him with a panicked look on his face.

"Zero! Thank goodness you're here…I came as soon as I heard of the attack." Colonel stopped a few feet away from Zero, who held the panel before his chest and gave a slightly suspecting glare to the man. He didn't want to believe that Colonel had any hand in this, but decided to wait until he could naturally ask about the dragon.

"If you're looking for Iris, she's safe and sound over there." Zero pointed over his shoulder and nudged his head, where Iris stepped out from behind the rocks and said in a relieved tone "Brother!" With bliss in her heart she ran out, which was something Zero had not accounted for as he held the plate closer to his chest and followed his gaze on Iris as she ran up to Colonel, who kneeled down to hug her while remarking "Don't scare me like that again."

"It's ok. I feel safe with you and Zero to protect me." Iris remarked. When Colonel let go of his sister, he put on a more stern expression and looked at Zero to ask "You'll have to fill me in on the rest of the details Zero."

Zero closed his eyes and kept his respect for Colonel in line as he told him "It was an organized assault by Mavericks. They took out Magma Dragoon and destroyed the core keeping Sky Lagoon afloat. Their attack was made possible thanks to a mechanical dragon."

Colonel's eyes widened as he murmured "A-A dragon?" It was a response Zero did not want him to give. The urge to just voice his concerns now ate away at his mind, even if another part of him fought to ignore those feelings. He put one foot forward and held the panel up at Colonel, gently inquiring "Colonel, do you know something about this?"

Colonel didn't even have to step forward, he closed his eyes, as though to hide the shame he felt as he admitted to Zero "That dragon was indeed a Repliforce weapon. It had to have been what was stolen from us a while back." Zero quickly inquired after noting the disbelieving shock on Iris' face "So it wasn't sent out on Repliforce's orders?"

"Zero…do you not trust me?" Colonel asked in a flummoxed tone, laying a hand on his chest as Zero closed his eyes and remarked "I want to trust you Colonel. I want to trust all of Repliforce…but this is no coincidence. Please, make this easy for all of us and come back to HQ for questioning."

"…As a warrior, it pains me to put down my weapon, but my pride is not more valuable than the lives of my men." Colonel placed his blade into the hilt on his belt, but before he could let Zero take him away a squadron of Reploids wielding rifles encircled the three. With a muffled voice through his helmet, one of them exclaimed "That won't be necessary Colonel. You're under arrest for crimes against humanity and Reploid kind!"

Zero, Iris and Colonel swung their heads around in confusion, with Zero in particular gesturing his arm out to the squadron and exclaiming "What are you doing? This isn't proper procedure!" The Reploid remarked sternly "Silence, Maverick Hunter."

"What…?" Zero whispered in confusion. He did not recognize these Reploids, but from the way they looked they had to have been given their orders from way up high in the government. The Reploid commander of this squad said "So Colonel…do you want to die later…" A targeted laser shot out from all the rifles, focusing all on Colonel as the Reploid continued in an almost taunting manner "Or now?"

Iris murmured "Brother…no…" while Colonel looked at her. His eyes were wide in shock, and he could only whisper under his breath "So, this is how it is…That person might've been right after all."

He then looked up at Zero and remarked "Forgive me Zero…but I'm going to have to ask you to protect Iris for me." Zero widened his eyes and exclaimed "Colonel, don't do it!" It was too late. Colonel drew his blade and in the instant the bullets fired upon them he delivered an impossibly accurate circular slash that reflected the shots right back into the barrels they were shot from. The weapons blew up in the Reploids' hands, and Colonel turned around and dashed away as fast as he could.

The leader of this squad growled and exclaimed "After the Maverick!" and they all vaulted across the ruins of this town in hot pursuit. Iris held her hand out and could only murmur sadly "Brother…why? Why are you doing this?" Zero cursed his inability to comfort her in this tense moment, as he was wracked with a terrible bout of confusion. Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, Zero could only remarked "Just what's going on here…Colonel?"

 _Next Time: The Rebellion_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Temperamental Blizzard, Frost Walrus**

 _24 hours after the fall of Sky Lagoon…_

Across the world, a televised broadcast went out to every big screen monitor in all the major cities. Displayed on the screen was General's face, and he spoke out to all the observing humans and Reploids.

" _Attention all citizens. This is General of the Repliforce. I deliver this message to you all with peaceful intentions. We of Repliforce…have been falsely labeled Mavericks by the leaders we all follow, and framed for the attack on the Sky Lagoon. It is up to you to decide whether or not to believe us…you have that right."_

General closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh.

" _I say this not to incite rebellion, but to make our stance clear. Repliforce…shall NOT change our duties. If any humans or Reploids need our aid, we shall still provide it to the best of our ability. In the mean time, we of Repliforce shall do what we can to uncover the truth behind this deception, so no other Reploids shall fall victim."_

" _That is our wish, that is our purpose…"_ The broadcast was shut off in the Maverick Hunter HQ, where the likes of X, Zero and Iris were watching the message unfold. The holographic screen was replaced with a series of smaller ones displaying the shadows of multiple elderly humans.

" _As you can see, Maverick Hunters, Repliforce has declared independence from the world government. As of this moment, all of Repliforce are to be officially labeled as Mavericks."_ One of the officials remarked. Iris held her hands together and murmured in disbelief "No…that means even my brother is…"

Zero stepped up with his arms folded together, inquiring to the government "Hold on a second. There's not enough proof to connect them to the Sky Lagoon attack. Didn't you require proof back when Doppler was a problem?"

Another official commented in a docile tone _"With all due respect, Maverick Hunter, the circumstances are different. Had Colonel and General not chosen to secede, they could've easily been given the chance to make their case to us. We would've listened…they simply chose the wrong path."_

Zero grit his teeth slightly and thought back to those strange Reploids who attacked Colonel on the spot. Thinking to himself _"Yeah right…you were already dead set on executing him"_ Zero had to restrain himself from saying that out loud. He closed his eyes and commented "That may be, but they've made no indications of being Mavericks."

" _Are you intending to disobey us too, Maverick Hunter?"_ One of the officials held nothing back in his intentions, and one could imagine he was one button press away from instigating an order to dismantle Zero. X stepped up in front of his comrade and remarked for him "He's not. But an investigation should be made into Repliforce's recent activities. The last thing we want is to start a war with them."

" _Hmmmm…While I do not fully agree with the notion, it IS true that there are some strange gaps in Repliforce's actions over the last few weeks."_ A more reasonable official brought that to the group's attention, only for another official to comment _"Absurd! Investigations are a waste of time. Did the General not make himself clear?! He intends to find out the 'truth' about what happened! That madman will do whatever he can to deceive the public and incite rebellion! His army must be put down NOW!"_

With a thundering slam of the fist against the ground, that man started heaving into his mic. The central figure, a wise and calm man, commented to the Maverick Hunters _"We have information on all the Repliforce bases. We have even heard of some members of Repliforce taking residence in these bases recently. If you wish to perform these investigations, then you're welcome to do so. But remember…you are still Maverick Hunters first and foremost. If a member of Repliforce resists questioning, then you are to terminate them without prejudice. Understood?"_

Zero tapped his fingers on his elbows and commented in turn with X "…Understood." The screens shut off, and Iris quickly yelled out to Zero "Y-You can't be serious Zero! My brother is not a Maverick!"

Zero turned to look at her and gave a smile "Relax Iris. I refuse to believe that Colonel has been infected with the Sigma Virus. The same goes for General. I trust them both." X then waved a hand out and asked "What are we supposed to do Zero? Even if those two aren't infected with the virus, they still willingly disobeyed the government. We can't overturn that."

"I don't know X, this whole thing reeks of a setup. Whether it's the government or someone else pulling the strings, I can't tell." Zero gave his thoughts, the latter remarks making X lay a hand on his chin and ponder indirectly "Speaking of that…Those Reploids that attacked Colonel, I've never seen them before."

Iris remarked to the two "I've heard about them just briefly from my brother. Those Reploids are known as the 'Shadow Corps'. Apparently, they perform top-secret assassinations for the world governments. Not just against Mavericks…but against humans too."

X's eyes widened in agape shock before he murmured "That's horrible. Why would humans make Reploids kill other humans?" Zero brushed his hand out and had to unfortunately be realistic towards his friend "The world's always been like that. It's just back then it was humans killing humans under government orders instead of Reploids being forced to do the dirty deed."

X hung his head a bit and struggled to comprehend such information. Zero turned a little bit and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But that's why we keep fighting. One day Reploids won't have to be used as tools for battle." X looked up and nodded his head before commenting "I hope so."

Irisi inquired to the two nervously "What are you two going to do now?" Zero tapped his fingers on his elbows a little more and remarked "I'm going to investigate one of the Repliforce facilities. It's worth a shot, right?"

"I'll join you Zero. The sooner we uncover the truth, the better." X commented. Zero nodded his head then looked at Iris, who tapped her pointer fingers together in front of her chest and looked a little worried. Zero gestured his hand out and asked "Iris, I could really use your help."

Iris murmured "I-I don't like having to suspect members of Repliforce…We should all be fighting together, not apart." Zero told her immediately "I don't like the idea either, but on the off-chance a member of Repliforce has gone Maverick we have to do our duty as Hunters and stop them."

"Y-Yeah, I know, but…" Iris stuttered some more until Zero remarked "Iris, please. I can't trust anyone else to do as good a job of being a navigator as you have." Then, the girl looked up with a slight blush in her cheeks and commented "Well…I know that's true, but…"

With a tense biting of her lower lip, Iris whispered "…But what if we're too late to save them?" Zero commented "…I'm not going to let Colonel's good name be dragged through the mud because some Maverick decided to frame him and General. I promise…I WILL discover who is behind this and stop them!"

Zero bravely swung his fist up before his chest while making that declaration. Iris looked up to him and felt a little inspiration welling up in her mind. Trying her best to pump her fists beside her body, Iris proclaimed "T-Then I'll try my best to help you Zero!" With a more relaxed expression, Zero smiled and said "Alright then. Let me check the database on Repliforce's bases. There has to be a good lead to follow somewhere…"

He went over the circle of monitors in the center of the room and turned on one of the screens. Pictures of five Reploids could be seen in a circle that Zero could spin around with a swipe of his finger. He stopped on the picture of a Reploid with a walrus face and icy tusks and with curiosity in his eyes gave that a light tap. A paragraph of information along with a picture of an arctic base was displayed on the screen.

"Lets see here…Frost Walrus…Leader of the Repliforce Arctic Forces, he was once considered a Maverick set for disposal until General convince the government to give him a second chance. Since then, Frost Walrus has fought many battles for the sake of Reploid kind, and has lost a lot of his destructive tendencies." As Zero spoke the information out to his comrades, he rubbed his chin and seemed to take a deep interest in that part about him being a former Maverick.

X remarked suddenly "Frost Walrus? There was a ice sculpture of him in Blizzard Buffalo's domain. Guess the two must've known each other." Zero turned around and remarked in a curious tone "How exactly does one 'stop being a Maverick'?"

X raised his brows and replied "By curing them of the virus, right?" Zero shook his head a bit and mentioned "Frost Walrus was recruited before we knew the virus was even a thing."

Iris commented on the matter with a surprising degree of confidence "There ARE cases of Mavericks out there who were labeled based on rogue programming, not because of the virus. Vile was a post-mortem case, right?" Zero remarked "That's true. But if that's the case, then I'd think that'd make Frost Walrus more susceptible to the virus. I want to have a chat with him first."

Iris remarked "…Ok Zero. I'll set up the coordinates and comm-link for you as soon as I can." Zero nodded his head and Iris ran off to a nearby computer, while X looked at him and pumped his arm cannon up to remark "I'm ready whenever you are Zero."

"Right, lets do this X."

The two were about to walk off when Signas came through the nearby door with a person standing beside him. They were a short, pudgy yellow Reploid with a goofy grin on his face and what appeared to be some sort of sports helmet with a bar-type mouth guard. Signas glanced at X and remarked "Oh, there you are X. I've been looking for you."

X commented in a puzzled tone "Signas? What's up?" before glancing aside and remarking "And who's the new guy?" Signas gestured out to the Reploid and remarked "I know you've been having trouble with new navigators ever since Alia left. So that's why I personally went searching for a new one that I feel would better fit you. Meet Double. He's a rookie navigator from the southern HQ."

With a deep but bubbly tone, Double remarked "I-It's an honor to meet you Mr. X" while rubbing the back of his head and extending the other hand out. X hesitantly shook his hand and said "I-It's a pleasure to meet you." It was not in his nature to be rude, but he bordered on it when he looked at Signas and inquired in a rather pressing manner "A rookie?"

Signas smiled and remarked "He's passed plenty of exams for navigation with flying colors. The only demerit I've heard given to him is that he's a bit…clumsy." Double chuckled and remarked "That's not too bad though, eh Mr. X?"

"Hmmm…" X looked at the Reploid for a little bit and could definitely see his eagerness radiate around him. He must've had an honest work ethic to him to be recommended by Signas, and it did seem like he'd be able to stay focused on the job at all times. X closed his eyes and murmured "Maybe it is best to try and move on…" he then looked at Signas and remarked "Alright, I'll give Double a chance."

Double saluted X and stuttered "I-I won't let you down Sir! Err…Mr. X! …Mr. X Sir!" Then Signas remarked with a smile "I'm glad to hear that X. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you two to follow me in order to fill out the necessary paperwork." X widened his eyes, embarrassed to have forgotten that, but Zero quickly told him "Don't fret over it X. I'll handle the investigation for a bit while you take care of that."

"Alright. Don't push yourself too hard Zero. You're lucky to have made it out of the Sky Lagoon unscathed." X commented before he followed Signas and Double out of the room. Zero folded his arms and took a moment to gather his thoughts before commenting "Ok, time to get this investigation underway…"

He sprinted out the door and went straight for the teleporters, stepping in one and having his body warped away to a new destination. The travel was smooth as usual, but end on a bumpy note as Zero was dropped on top of a set of slippery rocks and forced to quickly leap off before he fell face first into the ground. A small Met was right in front of him as he landed in the snow, but the little thing just hopped away before it could be destroyed.

Zero looked around and found his surroundings blurred out by the thick snow that was falling around him. A chill crept through his circuits, and he quickly placed a hand on his right shoulder while remarking "Activating thermal vents." A wave of heat then slowly pushed out from across his body, leaving him capable of moving at normal speeds.

He drew his sword over his head and swung it out against the snow in front of him. He noticed a lack of depth to it and remarked "Alright, shouldn't be any hidden pitfalls around here." He then placed the sword onto his back and shut off the energy blade before receiving a call from Iris on his communicator.

" _Z-…Z-Zero! Zero, can you hear me?"_ Zero put a hand to his right ear and remarked "Loud and clear Iris. How's the signal holding up?" Iris quickly responded _"It's fine. If the snow gets any thicker it might be a problem, but I can try and boost the signal through the radio link in this base."_

"The weather's harsh enough already here. You're telling me it can get worse?" Zero remarked with a disbelieving cough beforehand. Iris could be heard chuckling lightly in the background before she quietly replied _"W-Well…Yes…"_

Zero paused and blinked a little bit, with Iris telling him a moment later to ease some concerns _"But you won't have to worry about any of that once you get into the base itself."_ Zero inquired while slowly sifting his feet through the snow "Anything I have to worry about along the way?"

" _The outer defenses are filled with spike traps and chasms. None of them are hidden by the snow, at least they weren't the last time I was here…"_ Iris's hesitation at the end got Zero to slowly ask "And that was…?"

" _A-A year ago."_

"…." Zero closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I'll try and stick to high-ground in that case." He then turned around and saw a wall of rocks leading up to a higher pair of cliffs. Noticing a sheer lack of ice on the walls, Zero drew his sword and commented to Iris "Keep me updated when you can."

The communicator was shut off and Zero was off. Leaping at the wall, he stabbed his sword into it for stability and then looked back, kicking off and hitting the other wall in a second. He kept this up until he was on higher ground safely away from the potential pitfalls down below. He ran ahead along the path, stopping when he felt his feet give way to friction, and climbing the single wall that got in his path.

The higher elevation did not last for long, as Zero found himself standing tip-toed at a crumbling edge while looking out towards the formidable fortress ahead. He made a hop back then took a chance to observe the outer defenses. There were layers of icicles that were shown capable of piercing through even Reploids, as shown by a few corpses lying amongst them. There were some icy platforms and hills that lied over the spikes, but they were breaking apart and reforming at specific intervals.

"Looks like I'm going to need to time myself…One misstep and I'll be swiss cheese." Zero commented with only a little concern in his mind. He took a deep breath, kept his sword drawn for protection, then made as far of a running leap as he could off the ledge right as the platforms would form back into place. Right as he landed, Zero's body was carried forward by the slippery surface at a speed he wasn't quite expecting.

He kept his cool and moved onward, facing some resistance in the form of skiing snowmen with swords for poles. Questioning the oddly toy-like appearances of this 'defensive line', Zero nevertheless did not fall to the flaw of underestimation and swung his sword out to take them down just like any other Mavericks. One of the snowmen managed to intercept the swing of his blade and pushed him back up the slope, which was starting to crumble rapidly.

Zero grit his teeth and leapt over the snowman, spinning in a circle and cutting the machine in half overhead before landing on another slope and sliding further down towards the depths of the base. More snowmen came after him with guns, firing thick green energy bolts while trying to flank him from both sides. Zero spun around and cut through the barrels of the guns while shifting the way he stood to dodge the blasts.

He then leaped off the edge of a slant and stabbed his sword into a wall, watching as the Mavericks pursuing him slammed headfirst into it and exploded. With more friction to deal with, Zero began to slide down towards the next set of ice slides. Timing himself to land the very moment they reform he went down an incredibly deep slide, being forced to leap off and land on the ledge on the other side lest he'd slam into the wall at the end.

Waiting for him on the ledge was a metallic yeti that had already had raised it's right fist to attack Zero. The Hunter spun around and widened his eyes, keeping his feet planted against the ground while holding his sword up to block the blade of ice the yeti spawned from his gauntlet. The ice grinded down against Zero's blade, and he quickly grabbed the handle in both hands and sliced clean through the center of the yeti's body.

Before it blew up, Zero took a cautious glance back to make sure there was stable ground below then flipped off the ledge, the blast giving him a little propulsion downward. He landed in a bent down pose and looked ahead. There was only a short distance until he'd have to drop off to advance, so he took a moment to catch his breath and call Iris up.

" _Everything ok Zero?"_ She inquired happily, as though his signal brought her comfort. Zero commented "Those defenses are pretty good. Most Hunters can't balance movement and attack. Anything else I should be worried about?"

" _You should almost be in the base. Just one drop and it should be right in front of you. But be careful, I recall there being a defense drone set up to repel intruders."_ Zero appreciate her professionalism with a smile and then nodded his head, shutting off the communication and returning to a firm demeanor as he went to the end of the path and looked down.

There were a string of icy platforms rising up from a generator at the very bottom. All they served was to delay intruders from getting to the bottom, but someone like Zero was able to bob and weave past the platforms with little pause or effort and then land on a ledge at the bottom. There was one of those sliding steel doors not far ahead, and Zero walked towards it to make it open up.

This room was secluded off from everything else on all sides, and the chill was thicker than it had been before. Zero could see his breath even with the heat surrounding him, and there was a thick wall of ice blocking off the entrance to the base. Arching his brows downward, Zero murmured "A trap…Just like Iris told me" and then cautious looked around. He soon became fixated on a drone descending from the ceiling.

It was a simple blue sphere with a glass red eye and icy vents on both sides. The vents spun around and dragged the frosty veil inward like a tornado, creating a ceiling of icicles and wrapping itself in a shell of ice with two sharp talons up top and one at the bottom. Zero grabbed his sword in both hands and swung it beside his face.

"That all you got…?" Zero said a bit cockily. The drone lunged itself at Zero and attempted to clamp him in it's claws, but he simply rolled under it's grasp and spun around to slice the bottom talon off. Zero then remarked to Iris "Does this thing have any explosives inside it?"

" _It should…Oh! You're thinking-"_ "Yeah, all I got to do is time this just right and…" Zero interrupted Iris with a murmur to himself and ended up overhearing her sigh. The drone spun around and smashed the other two talons into diamond dust, which twirled around it's body and formed into a spiky shell. Zero arched his brows downward and commented "Come on…Come on…"

The drone rammed itself right towards Zero with the intent to impale, but unfortunately it would soon find itself impaled as Zero somersault jumped over it and threw his sword into the drone's back. With it punctured clean through, the drone was carried by the sword's momentum into the icy wall. The flying sparks signified the robot's inevitable destruction, and it's explosion was swift and clean.

The ice wall shattered and Zero's sword flew right back to him, and he calmly caught it and placed it onto his back without looking. Iris' swoons were barely heard over the intercom, and an oblivious Zero quickly acquired "Is everything alright on your end Iris?" Iris stammered in response _"No..no it's ok! Y-You managed to open the way into the base. It won't be as cold inside, but be careful."_

"Roger that." Zero shut off the communicator and then ran inside of the compound. Everything was more confined now, and the aesthetics reminded Zero of the inside of a giant refrigerator mixed within the cavernous cold rocks. There were tons of ice cubes lined up as walls, some of them storing Reploids while others held bombs.

Zero cautiously advanced towards the ice while providing his own opinion on the matter "Could they be preparing for an attack? Storing the bombs in the ice is a good way of protecting them if they figured out how to bypass freezing the circuits." Iris couldn't help but butt in with her own remark _"Some of those bombs are decoys, but others are active."_

"Oh yeah? I'm guessing the decoys are the ones without the blinking lights…" Zero said as he examined the closest ice blocks. He stepped back and grabbed onto his sword, slicing down so just the very TIP of the blade would cut through the ice. The bomb inside dropped to the ground with a quiet thud and did nothing. Zero nodded his head and let out a sigh of relief. With his facts now straight, Zero carved through the ice without having to worry about the enemies or bombs trapped inside. It was both a surprisingly but dull trek through the facility, save for the appearance of a robotic bird that could flash freeze an entire area whole.

Zero reached another steel door in a matter of minutes but paused in the frosty hallway before it, placing a hand on his earpiece to ask Iris "Something's not right. Is it possible they've already abandoned this place?"

" _No Zero. I'm detecting a presence beyond that door. It's a large one, likely Frost Walrus."_ When Iris gave that info up Zero frowned a tiny bit and whispered "Then what's with the lack of defenses…" and started to head for the door.

It opened up with his presence and allowed him to walk inside a compact, completely frozen over room. Off to the left was the reactor core that was generating the ice, and directly in front of Zero was the Reploid he came to meet. "Hey, you're Frost Walrus, right?" Zero bluntly called out to the frosty giant in front of him. They began to turn around, their footsteps shaking the room. The Reploid was three times taller than Zero and had a heavy build, with a white rounded body and thick spiked fists that could smash even the largest icebergs. His shoulders were protected by icy spikes and his tusks were made of a smooth, crystallized frost.

With a thick, blubbery tone, Frost Walrus remarked "Indeed I am…And you are Zero of the Maverick Hunters." His voice got a little hostile near the end, something Zero picked up on and remarked with a finger gestured out "Easy there. I'm not here to hunt you down. I was hoping you'd answer a few questions of mine."

Frost Walrus folded his arms together and wiggled his tusks, remarking to the little Hunter "How can I be sure you aren't trying to trick me?" Zero, with a little more impatience in his voice, assured him "If I was looking for a fight I'd have drawn my sword already."

"Brrrrbbb…You can't be too lenient these days. Fine, what do you have to ask?" Frost Walrus steadied himself as Zero started off with a simple question "Are you guarding anything in this fortress?"

"Just guarding the ol' place from intruders." Frost Walrus mentioned quietly. Zero responded "Your defenses aren't very good for protection in that case. Was there anything in this place that's considered valuable to Repliforce?"

"Harumph, not anymore. Cleared the ol' place out-" Frost Walrus got too involved in the conversation and ended up biting his tongue once realizing what he let slip. Zero's glare got firmer as he murmured "Mind repeating that?"

"Brrrbb…Just a slip of the tongue." Frost Walrus shook his head and waved some fingers off from his arm as though he had just said a simple joke. Zero wasn't buying it and with a fold of his arms he continued to inquire "So there WAS something here. What was it?"

"Don't think you have the authority to ask that whippersnapper. I only answer to Colonel and General." Frost Walrus was getting a tad more aggressive in tone, but Zero kept his calm as he continued to dig into what was going on "Mavericks don't get to decide who has authority. If you're hiding something, either reveal it or face the consequences."

"Are you THREATENING me, boy?" Frost Walrus's nostrils flared with a cold steam, and Zero remarked "I'm giving you a chance. You were already labeled a Maverick once, don't throw your second chance away."

Frost Walrus scoffed and murmured "You sound so tough…But you've never known what it's like to be discriminated as a Maverick even once, let alone twice. I had quite a few screws loose in my younger years…A real deadbeat Reploid I'll tell ya. Was labeled a Maverick and prepared to be dismantled until General stood up for me. I was given a second chance that day, whippersnapper, and I'm not going to betray his loyalty because of your ignorance."

" _Zero…This isn't right."_ Iris remarked in a begging tone. Zero shook his head and commented "I get that Iris, but…He's protecting something that's valuable to Repliforce. For all we know, it could be a dangerous weapon."He began to reach for his sword while asking Frost Walrus "You do realize there's no way out of this now, right? By willingly withholding information from an investigation, you've admitted to being a Maverick."

Frost Walrus pounded his fists together and bravely proclaimed "I have fought prejudice before the first bolt in your body was even manufactured, whippersnapper! And now I'm going to knock some sense into that ignorant head of yours!" Zero swung his sword out in both hands and remarked with regret "I wish you'd have chosen otherwise."

Frost Walrus swung both his fists out with the force of shotguns and smashed Zero straight on. Even blocking with his sword did little to mitigate the damage as he was thrown back into the wall and bounced off it. Zero quickly leaped right over the Reploid as he went for another pair of punches and then tried to slice at Frost Walrus' back. The durability of the Reploid was strong enough that Zero's blade barely cut into him.

Zero spun around for the landing only for Frost Walrus to assault him in the chest with his swung back elbow, launching him into the opposite wall. Frost Walrus then smashed his fists into the ground and a wave of frosty spikes ran across the ground to intercept Zero's landing. The Hunter quickly swung his sword against the ground to slice through the ice then ran straight at his foe while remarking "Iris! I need a weakness here!"

" _I-I…"_ Her hesitant groans could be heard plain as day, and Zero slammed his hand on the side of his head and exclaimed "For all we know this secret could be part of the conspiracy against your brother! But I'll never figure it out if I don't make it out of here!"

Zero swung his sword out in a rapid string of swings to give enough force just to stop one punch. "IRIS!" He yelled out in worry, and Iris grit her teeth and stammered into the mic _"U-Use fire or attack his head…! I-It's the weakest part of his body!"_

"Don't have fire, so…" Zero gripped his sword tightly and swung it out in a broad arc to repel Frost Walrus' second punch, all the while focusing on his head. The Reploid pounded his fists together and raised them up, pouring out a thick spray of frost that hardened together into a giant icicle in a matter of seconds. Then Frost Walrus gripped it in his hands and swung it back, yelling out to Zero "Time to bury you, whippersnapper!"

He tried to smash the icicle down onto Zero, but the Hunter leaped far back and landed on the wall. The icicle broke apart into a bunch of smaller icicles that flew into the air. Zero bounced off the wall while sheathing his sword, then snatched a couple of those icicles out and threw them straight at Frost Walrus.

Those were smashed by the girth of his fists in a second, but not before Zero managed to land on one and dig his sword into it. Running along his arm, Zero managed to get a good cut in before Frost Walrus attempted to flick him off with his other hand. Zero hopped onto the eastern wall and watched as the Reploids' cut arm limped to the ground, sparks flying wildly out of it. Frost Walrus swung the other hand up and angrily fired off some sharp icicles from the palm.

Zero ran along the wall and then leaped off it, slicing through the icicles until he was right in front of Frost Walrus' face. Gritting his teeth, Zero stabbed the blade right through the Reploids' forehead. Their mouth went agape, and they started gasping in pain. Zero could hear Iris wincing in his communicator, and in turn he felt the pain of what he had to do regardless of how necessary it was. Giving Frost Walrus the benefit of a swift demise, Zero pulled the sword free from the Reploid and leaped off to the right.

Frost Walrus began to fall over, but not before he muttered his final words "General…I thank you…for all you did…for me…" His body crashed against the ground, and like a sheet of winter snow he would never move again. Zero sheathed his sword and closed his eyes, listening as Iris was crying into his ear.

"…Iris, I'm sorry…I wish there was another way." Zero offered comfort the only way he knew how. Iris sobbingly whispered back to him _"I-I'm scared Zero…Why…why must we be enemies with Repliforce?"_

"…I…Don't know." Zero murmured as he folded his arms together and looked over at Frost Walrus. The Reploid looked at peace, even in death. For a moment, Zero felt a pain in his body. This pain had only manifested once before, when he had felled his mind-controlled comrade Blast Hornet.

He had just fought a Maverick. He had to have done the right thing. That's what Zero thought. Gritting his teeth, Zero laid a hand on his chest and remarked "…Bring me back to base Iris…And recall Frost Walrus' body too. Hopefully we can find something in his database to help us out…" His tone was heavy and tired. Soon enough, Iris fulfilled that request. This was just the beginning of a chain of events that would forever change the lives of Reploid and human kind…

 _Next Time: The Seafaring Assailant_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Pursuer from the Depths, Jet Stingray**

A couple hours after the defeat of Frost Walrus, Zero was in the research department back at HQ to observe the progress the scientists were making in dissecting the Reploids' body. The puncture wound Zero had made to defeat him actually served as a good opening for the scientists to pry into and reach the data stored in his brain.

There were scattered holographic projections around Frost Walrus' levitated corpse, with a few small drones flying around to scan information they could find off of him. Zero looked at the corpse and found himself feeling a little uneasy. Though he had never met the Reploid before this confrontation, the fact couldn't be ignored that the two were on the same side before this day. And now, the proud member of Repliforce was nothing more than a means of gathering intel on the operations of his group.

"… _To think that him having the Sigma Virus would be the BETTER option…"_ Zero could hardly believe that his thoughts would wander such a way, and he slowly shook his head and turned away from the sight of that dismantled corpse. He faced one of the small scientist Reploids and kept to his duties by asking them professionally "Hey, have you found anything out yet?"

"No sir. The cranial section is severely damaged and we can't extract much data until we can reconnect the information processors." Their tone was rather unsubtle in their dismay towards Zero, but the Reploid quickly glanced up and remarked apologetically "B-But I know you had no choice in the matter."

"Yeah…no choice." Zero closed his eyes and reluctantly responded with that. He tapped his fingers on his elbows and proceeded to ask "Then I'm guessing you don't know if he was infected with the Sigma Virus either…"

"To be fair, we've never been asked to examine a body for it post-mortem. This'll all take some time sir, and you're wasting precious seconds bothering me." The Reploid sighed, with Zero blinking a couple times before responding "Sorry, I'll leave you be now."

He then began to walk out of the room, but the scientist Reploid interrupted him with a remark of "How is Iris holding up, Zero?" The Hunter glanced over his shoulder and answered honestly "Not very well."

"I can't blame her…"

"Neither can I, but there's nothing we can do except figure out who's framing Repliforce and get their name cleared."

"Assuming there's any Repliforce left…" The Reploid mumbled grimly. Zero slanted his brows and his thoughts lingered on that remark for just a few seconds before he walked out of the room and ended up in the empty halls.

Looking around, he thought _"Everyone's mobilizing to take on Repliforce…"_ and felt some emptiness well up inside of him. Luckily, he'd hear some footsteps approaching soon enough, and he'd find a little comfort in the fact it came from his comrade X.

"X? Finally got away from the paperwork, huh?" Zero cracked a light joke as X stopped right next to him. The Hunter shook his head as he replied "No, there's still a bit to go through. They let me come here after news of your mission reached us."

"Oh…" Zero was a bit disappointed by that. X asked in a deeply concerned voice "So is it true? You had to taken down Frost Walrus of Repliforce, Zero?"

"The reports don't lie X." Zero wasn't hesitant in his answer, but he disliked having to mention it to his friend. He wasn't surprised at all when X glared at him and demanded to know "Tell me he was infected with the Sigma Virus."

Zero shook his head and with a hand gestured out and his gaze averting X's face he clarified "No, but he was hiding something from us. I don't know if it was a secret weapon or something else, but he refused to disclose and then attacked me…I had no choice but to fight back." He then folded his arms together and leaned back against the nearby wall.

X grit his teeth and clenched a fist in front of his chest. "This isn't right! We're supposed to be working together, not against each other!" Zero didn't have a response to that, at least nothing that would make X feel any better.

The Hunter was simply given a chance to vent his frustration to his friend "If only Colonel didn't run off…He has to know SOMETHING about what's going on." Zero responded to that with a firm glare and comment of "I'd like to believe so too X, that he's just trying to discover the truth his own way…"

"But someone had to give the orders to Frost Walrus to defend that facility. It was either Colonel or General, and regardless of who it was…"

"It means they don't want us to determine what they have transferred from their arctic base." X mentioned grimly. Zero shook his head slightly and remarked "We're too in the dark here X. Until we know more, the only people we can trust are our fellow Hunters."

"Mr. X! There you are!" Double suddenly called out from behind the two. X turned around and saw the portly guy running at him while carrying a stack of papers. Suddenly the robot tripped and that pile flew across the ground, with him rolling until he smacked into X's legs. After recoiling, Double quickly got to his feet and looked back in a panic "Ah! I dropped the paperwork!"

X sighed and said "Don't worry about it Double…Do you want me to help you carry all that to the Commander?" Double rubbed the back of his head and chuckled "Ohoho…You don't have to do that! I have to prove my worth as your navigator!"

"The key is cooperation, Double. Come on…" X smiled and started to pick up some of the papers. Waving them out at Double, he finished his comment "Lets finish this up and get to work." Double saluted in glee "Y-Yes sir!"

After the two split up the paperwork, X looked at Zero and told him "Don't lose faith in Repliforce Zero. We'll clear their name, I swear it." He then walked off with Double, leaving the crimson Hunter to sigh and think _"Sometimes I envy your optimism, X…"_

He pulled away from the wall and decided to head back to central command, hoping that the long trek might keep his mind off the troubles he had. But not even a second into his walk did he end up hearing an alert ringing through the base.

" _Warning! South Pacific Power Plant is under attack by Mavericks! Warning! South Pacific Power Planet is under attack by Mavericks!"_

"A power plant?!" Zero exclaimed in disbelief. Gritting his teeth and muttering "Great, just what we needed…" He then broke into a sprint to get to central command in record time. The alarms were still going off at the time, and the navigators were in a panic as they couldn't reach any available Hunters at the time.

Right as Zero had entered the room, Iris sharply turned her chair around and exclaimed "Z-Zero! Over here!" The Hunter quickly came running while asking "Iris, give me a status report, now!" The worried little navigator spun back towards the computer and her fingers blurred across the keyboard.

"Mavericks have launched an assault on a key power plant in the South Pacific Ocean. We lost all visual contact inside the building and don't know who is responsible…" As Iris explained the situation, Zero remarked fiercely "Doesn't matter who it is. I'm going in and taking them down before they take out all communication in that region."

"Alright…But be careful, if you can't stop the power from going out, it'll take a while for me to extract you from the area." Iris remarked. Zero shook his head and commented "Then I'll just not fail. Easy enough…" His tone was one of slight relief, as part of him liked a brief return to normalcy even during these chaotic times.

"Please be careful Zero!" Iris proclaimed as she turned to see the Hunter rush back out the door. She then let out a heavy sigh and with a melancholy look focused on the computer screen, where she pulled up an image of the attack going underway, and she zoomed in on the main assailant to see a blurred Repliforce insignia on their chest. She laid her hands against her eyes and did well to hide herself as she let out a tense sniffle or two.

With Zero, he made his way to the teleporter and was sent off to the power plant in the blink of an eye. He wound up inside of a moist, spacious cavern and looked to the north to find a pair of massive steel gates had been wrenched from their joints and thrown aside. Electricity cackled in spurts in the darkness beyond, and streams of it traveled between walls of generators.

Zero looked to the ground and saw some Reploids that had their lower bodies ripped apart by what appeared to be explosives. He wasted no time in drawing his sword and rushing for the entrance, but before he was even halfway there a series of Reploids flew straight out of the building at blinding speeds and made their way for the vast tunnel behind the Hunter. He turned and kept focusing overhead as they flew on by without a care towards his presence.

Of note, there was a very large shadow amongst the group that had to be the leader of these Maverick terrorists. Zero laid a hand on the side of his head and asked "Iris, did you get a lock on that last Maverick?!"

" _N-No Zero, but there's something wrong inside the power plant!"_

"What?!" Zero hastily inquired, and Iris told him with fright in her voice _"I-I was able to re-establish the camera feed…The Mavericks have planted dozens of bombs inside the power plant! They're going to go off in under five minutes, and it'll take the whole place out!"_

"Then I'm going in to disable them!" Zero had just one foot off the ground when Iris blurted in a panic _"Are you crazy?! There's too many bombs!"_

"Better I try than let this place go up in smoke, Iris!" Zero exclaimed. Iris angrily told him _"And you going up in smoke is any better?!"_ She let out a slight gasp of surprise towards herself, and after a brief, awkward pause she murmured _"…I-I'm sorry Zero…But we have to take this loss. We just weren't able to respond fast enough."_

Zero glanced back at the rock tunnel and focused on the Ride Chasers. Sheathing his sword, Zero remarked "Then the least I can do is take down the Maverick responsible! Keep in contact Iris, I'm engaging the enemy!" As snippets of a teleportation field appeared around him, the Hunter rushed straight for the nearest Ride Chaser and leaped onto it.

" _Zero, no! It's too dangerous!"_ Iris yelled in disbelief of his recklessness. Zero gripped the handlebars and gave them a twist to rev the engines. "I'll be fine! We can't let this Maverick get away with anymore crimes!" His Ride Chaser shot forth and popped a wheelie for the first few seconds. Zero held on expertly and flew off into the tunnel, his ponytail flying around as the circumference of the tunnel became a blur in his eyes.

The tunnel itself began to narrow and machinery could be seen all around, with fans acting as engines for producing electricity. Unfortunately, they too had bombs attached to their sides. Zero kept his focus forward and saw some humanoid Mavericks riding yellow Ride Chasers not far ahead of him. They turned back and fired lasers from their guns at Zero. The Hunter drew his sword and cut down whatever lasers he couldn't swerve, keeping on the given path as best he could.

He gripped the lever on the handlebar tightly to increase his ride's speed, and once he was between the two Mavericks he kicked one off their ride while slicing the head off the other one. Their rides flew off the sides of the shrinking path and perished in a fiery explosion. Zero had to quickly sit back down before he rammed straight into some bombs that had been placed ahead.

"Shoot…!" He pulled up on the handlebars and made the Ride Chaser leap over the bombs, and he swiftly landed in time for a few drones to drop in front of him and fire pellets in his way. Zero swung his sword over his head to cut through the pellets, followed by him making another leap so he could ram the bottom of the vehicle through the drones.

Up ahead, some more bombs were placed, but those bombs went off and caved in large chunks of the path that splashed down into the waters below. Zero boosted right over the gap and only had a split-second to leap over another one so he could land on a steel framed platform and shoot ahead to safety on another path.

A few more bombs were placed in the way, but Zero charged ahead with another boost from his Ride Chaser to careen through them without being harmed by the explosions. This was then followed by a pair of Mavericks flying off nearby ramps and ramming against the sides of his vehicles. With spikes at their sides, they attempted to grind down the machine, and did in fact breech a couple of the wires inside.

The Mavericks pulled away with Zero only managing to slice one in half, and then his Ride Chaser began to weave left and right uncontrollably. It was too risky to stay there, so with reckless abandon, Zero leaped straight to the left and kicked the other Maverick off his ride. He quickly aimed for the left wall and with a boost launched himself right towards the slanted metal there.

He flew up the curvature of the wall and ended up upside-down on the ceiling, where gravity would soon swiftly drag him back down to the path. He just managed a perfect landing by flipping the vehicle around, but the hover pads underneath didn't activate in time and sparks flew wildly out of it's delicate underside until it could re-adjust itself. Flames started to erupt from the pads, but by then Zero already had his sights set on another Ride Chaser piloted just ahead.

Risking being caught in the vehicle's destruction, Zero clenched the levers tightly and pushed forward at maximum speed, the fires blazing wildly across the length of the vehicle as Zero stood up and leapt straight at his next ride. He got onto the back of the Ride Chaser and sliced the Maverick's head off, and once the rest of it's body fell with a clunk Zero quickly hopped aboard and leaned ahead as the tunnel was getting even narrower.

" _Z-Zero! The bombs are going to blow! You're not going to make it!"_

"Yes I will!" Zero declared as he pushed as hard as he could on the levers and rocketed ahead at lightning speeds. His body felt the pressure digging into his very frame, and his ability to react sharpened to compensate. He could react with split-second timing to the platforms that were being destabilized ahead, and thus successfully leaped over them before he could follow their descent into a wall.

He rammed through the exit gates like they were made of cardboard, and didn't flinch even as his vehicle was rocked by the explosions barreling their way through the tunnel. The light of the outdoors was soon ahead of him, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let this be the last time he'd bear witness to it. With the explosions literally breathing down his neck, Zero let out a brave yell and made the final push with all he could muster.

"ZERO!" Iris yelled to him for what she felt would be the last time as she watched the power plant get blown sky-high. The inferno towered and raged in the middle of a confinement in the ocean, lingering it's existence as a massive plume of smoke when all was said and done. Iris could only stare at the computer screen, hoping that a speck of red would fly out of that smoke.

" _Cough…cough…! That stung a bit…!"_ A humored quibble called out to Iris, and her heart lit up in glee as she scrambled to put her mic before her mouth and exclaim "Y-You made it Zero!"

Back outside the wreckage of the power plant, Zero was riding along the ocean surface with a few scuffs to his name and a bit of smoke coughed from his mouth. He grinned and remarked "Told you I would. But now's not the time for chit-chat Iris, where did the Maverick ringleader go?!"

" _H-He's straight ahead. Watch out for the construction machines!"_ After that warning, Zero looked up and saw the Maverick he had been chasing zooming by overhead. Briefly getting a look at their appearance, he saw they had long wings with jet propellers that made their body look like a stingray, an image made better by the long rope-like tail. He also had a turbine cannon on his right arm and a breathing apparatus over his face.

The Maverick aimed his cannon at the ground and fired a powerful whirlwind in Zero's path, forcing him to make a hard swerve to the right before he was swallowed up. In a rough, nasally voice the Maverick proclaimed _"Catch me if you can, Hunter Zero!"_ and then flew straight for the thicket of machinery in the distance.

Zero slowed the Ride Chaser to a halt for a moment in order to see what obstacles were in store for him up ahead. The Maverick was flying right into an ensemble of cranes and half-built oil refineries. Revving the engines back up, Zero firmly glared and spun the Ride Chaser around to pursue his target.

The Maverick weaved under one of the cranes and spun around, opening a compartment on it's chest to fire a series of miniature mechanical stingrays at the water. The stingrays glided along the surface straight at Zero while lights flashed on top, telling the Hunter quite clearly that they were armed. He leaped over them and splashed back down, rocking his vehicle but giving him a clear shot at the ramp up ahead.

Pulling down on the booster lever, Zero flew right off the ramp and straight towards the Maverick. His target spun around and reversed his fans to keep flying as he aimed his cannon straight up at Zero's ride. The Hunter lowered his vehicle to point the cannon at the Maverick's chest, yet this also lined him up perfectly to see something that left him speechless. The Maverick wore a Repliforce symbol proudly on his breathing apparatus.

With his perception on the power plant attack now turned completely upside-down, Zero hesitated to pull the trigger and wound up having his vehicle devoured by the violent whirlwind the Reploid unleashed. Zero grit his teeth and hopped off the ride before he was torn apart, landing himself right on top of his target's chest while drawing his sword.

Having been weighed down, the stingray started to dive downward as Zero angrily declared "Who are you?! Why is Repliforce attacking a power plant?!" The Reploid spun himself around and smacked Zero with the side of his cannon, sending him hurtling straight towards one of the broken cranes. The Hunter spun for a few seconds until he managed to turn himself and stab his sword against the side of the crane's tower, where his body slid down for a few seconds until it stuck into a thick piece of metal.

Zero hastily laid a hand on his communicator and exclaimed "Iris! This is a member of Repliforce! I need details on them, now!" There was no response besides hesitant mumbles, and Zero yelled her name again in a slight panic only to still get nothing out of her. He glanced back and watched as the Reploid flung a few more miniature stingrays at the base of the crane, where they then started crawling their way up to him, exploding a couple times to weaken the structure.

As the crane wobbled and began to fall, Zero looked down and saw a couple Mavericks taking their Ride Chasers across the water. He thrust himself from the tower right at the path the two would take. The stingray wasn't going to let him off easy, and fired some more little stingrays down to try and blow up the Ride Chasers. Zero drew his arm cannon and fired a charged shot to take out two of the bombs. The last one splashed against the surface and blew up, knocking one rider into the air and sending the other one careening into the bottom of another crane.

Zero swung his arm cannon into the Maverick's head and blew it clean off as he got into position to take a seat on the vehicle. He had to quickly swerve and grab onto the handles so he'd have the speed necessary to land. His target lowered himself so he was right over Zero, and this time he started to wave his right hand towards a single half-built building in the distance. It was clear he wanted to take the fight there, as he boosted straight ahead without firing another attack.

Zero went right on over to that building, cautiously expecting a trap as he got to the metallic docks and leaped off the Ride Chaser. There was a small bridge leading to the sliding steel doors, and as he walked towards them he tried to contact Iris again. "Come on Iris, I really need your assistance here." This time, he got a response.

"… _Y-Your opponent is Jet Stingray…He's a decorated commander of the Repliforce Navy Forces. He holds great respect for General and Colonel, and-"_ "I need a weakness, Iris. What is his weakness?" Zero interrupted with no regard to her feelings. She paused right as Zero was at the door, forcing him to stop and remark "Iris!"

" _Ice, Zero…He's…weak to ice."_ The girl gave her reply with a heavy heart, and Zero looked at his sword and remarked "Alright, I'll use that technique I copied from Frost Walrus' programming. Thanks Iris."

Zero walked through the door and found Jet Stingray standing on a rickety bridge suspended just barely over a pool of water. The Reploid had his arms crossed before his chest and a respectable look in his eye towards Zero. _"So you arrived…Hunter Zero. I figured they would send you after me."_

Zero swung his sword at his foe and asked "What's the big idea? I thought Repliforce wasn't trying to cause trouble?!" Jet Stingray raised his head slightly and replied _"Unfortunately, this was a necessary move for us to make. We have the utmost apologies to give to those who have lost power because of this, but we will bring the light back soon enough…Not just to them, but the entire world as well."_

"So this wasn't the only facility you attacked…" As Zero broke into a scowl, Jet Stingray waved a hand away from his fold and remarked _"I was speaking metaphorically, Hunter Zero. You do not seem to grasp the severity of what has happened over the last couple of days."_

"I don't want to hear your excuses. What you just committed was terrorism!"

" _That is true, yes. But I assure you I am not trying to excuse my actions, regardless of how necessary they were. After all the work Repliforce has put into protecting the people both humans and Reploids, the government have chosen to cast us aside like we are common grade Mavericks. What we're doing now is fighting for the freedom of other Reploids so this cycle won't repeat again."_

Zero arched his brows downward and growled "All I'm hearing are excuses." Jet Stingray sighed and remarked _"You are in the darkness, Hunter Zero, made to follow the same path as blind, bigoted leaders."_

"What're you saying?!"

" _I heard the reports…How you killed Frost Walrus in cold blood. You have your duty as a Hunter, yes, but it's also part of your profession to discover the truth of crimes and such. Tell me…Can you truly peer through the darkness and see the truth laid barren in front of you?"_ The Maverick swung his arms out and left himself open to attack.

Zero gripped his sword tightly and could only think _"Why is he saying all this? There's no way he'd expect me to take his side…Is this a trap? Does he have someone waiting in the wings to attack me?"_ He widened his eyes furiously and exclaimed "The only truth is that you're a Maverick, Jet Stingray, and you're not going to get another chance to back off now! I'm ending this, right here, right now!"

Jet Stingray closed his eyes and muttered _"I am…disappointed. But at the same time, I am not surprised. You have been trained to follow a certain code, Hunter Zero. I understand this because I too follow a certain code…And that is one of complete and utter faith in the orders of Colonel and General!"_ The Reploid tapped a button on his cannon, and Zero started to hear the rapid beeps of little stingrays coming from below the bridge.

"D-Darn it…!" Zero would regret not paying attention sooner as the bridge collapsed from the force of the several explosions underneath it. He was sent plummeting into the pool of water, where his light air shield activated to allow him to breath. Jet Stingray descended into the depths with arms folded and wings spread wide, where he remarked in a clearer manner than before "You were brave to come this far, Hunter Zero…But now your blindness has led you to the darkest depths. And I, the hunter of the sea, shall punish your final mistake!"

The Reploid swung his arms out and then thrust his cannon at Zero, firing a whirlwind that was much stronger in the water and slammed the Hunter against the wall to suffer an agonizing flurry of cuts across his frame. Zero was allowed to get off the wall, but only so Jet Stingray could attack him with one of his miniature bombs. Zero had to swing down harder to compensate for water resistance, but he managed to cut down the bomb.

Then, Jet Stingray swam forward faster than he could fly and rammed Zero in the chest to nail him to the wall, followed by him firing his jets to drag him up, all the while slamming his cannon and fist into Zero's body. A couple dents formed into his body and his sword was forced from his grasp. But this gave him the ability to wrap both his arms around Jet Stingray's cannon and with a light tug slam him against the wall.

Zero then dropped into the water and plucked his sword from the ground while the Reploid fired a series of miniature bombs down the wall to pursue the Hunter. Zero hopped back to give himself the proper distance in order to be able to cut through all the bombs as they approached. Jet Stingray then fired a whirlwind downward, creating a whirlpool that dragged Zero in closer.

The Reploid dove through the whirlpool and upon landing threw an uppercut at Zero's jaw with his cannon. Zero took the punch standing completely still and then tried to stab through the cannon, only for Jet Stingray to make a hasty retreat out of the water before it could even be nicked. Zero looked up and saw past the blurry waves that the Reploid was flying to the other side of the pool while dropping bombs.

With quick thinking, Zero leaped to the wall and bounced out of the water, throwing his sword straight forth like a lance. Much to Jet Stingray's surprise, he found his left wing ripped straight through and his ability to fly lessened. He spiraled around and floated upright above the water, watching as Zero lunged right at him from across the room. The Reploid glided to the left to dodge the attack, but that just gave Zero the opening to grab his sword and pull it out while avoiding the stingray's whirlwind.

As Zero landed in the water, Jet Stingray dove right at him and rammed straight into his with his cannon. Zero was almost pushed against the wall until he swung his sword out to repel the cannon. The Reploid wanted to retreat, but Zero stabbed him right through the chest. This did not seem to faze Jet Stingray, as he pointed his cannon at Zero's head and remarked "Do not worry, I shall free you fro-"

"HYOURETSUZAN!"

"G-Gluuuugh!" The Reploid was consumed by a chilling pain as Zero's blade became wrapped in a large spike of ice, which deepened the wound in his body and consumed half of his body in a bitter frost. Jet Stingray's arms limped beside his hips, and with a blank expression he remarked "Was I…the blind one…after all…?" before his eyes went black and empty. Zero pulled his blade free from the enemy's corpse and sheathed it onto his back, watching as the ice shattered around the falling Reploid.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Zero leaned back against the wall and took what breaths he could before remarking to Iris "It's over…But we still failed to stop the power plant from being destroyed. Whatever happens next, we have to be ready to-" He stopped as he heard sobbing coming through from the other side.

"Iris?" He perked up a little and tried to ask her "What's wrong…?" He would hear no response from her, even as he continued to call her name out, and eventually the two of them just went completely silent with each other…

 _Next Time: Casualties of War_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Guerilla Arachnid of the Jungle, Web Spider**

An hour after the demise of Jet Stingray, Zero has finished resting his tired body in his capsule and has decided to check up on progress in the laboratory. The Reploids there had Frost Walrus and Jet Stingray hoisted into the air with wires, with a thicker set of them connected between their brains. Curious to the point of obsession, Zero approached one of the scientists and didn't even give him notice of his presence before demanding "Hey, have you found anything else out yet?"

The scientist jumped and slowly turned around, fumbling the pen in his hand all the way. He glared daggers at Zero and the Hunter backed off a bit. After a slight grumble, the scientist told him angrily "If I drop anything important, I'm taking it out of YOUR pay cut, Zero."

Calming down a little, Zero said "Sorry. Tensions are high around here…Must be getting to me too." The scientist shook his head and sighed "I wouldn't doubt it. Honestly, this has been worse than Sigma's rebellion…"

Turning around, the scientist began to move towards the Repliforce corpses, remarking in a fascinated manner "You will be happy to know, however, that we have started to make some progress regarding their check-up. Thanks to you actually sparing Jet Stingray's head, we were able to use his mainframe as a way of bridging the gaps in memory for Frost Walrus."

"How's that possible?" Zero remarked in a befuddled tone, to which the scientist raised a hand aside and was all too happy to clarify on "Seems the two were in the same place on quite a few occasions…No doubt in coordination meetings with Colonel and General. But the curious part is not the 'who'…but the 'when'."

Zero didn't say a word, affirming to the scientist that his curiosity needed to be sated. With a smile across his face, the Reploid pulled out a compartmentalized device and swung it over his shoulder for Zero to catch. The Hunter saw a list of recorded video files and dates beside them, and upon finding that there was more than one page he flipped over to the next and immediately widened his eyes.

"They've been meeting a lot over the last week. But wait, that would be…"

"Before the attack on Sky Lagoon…Curious, no?"

"Could it mean they were planning the attack then…?" Zero handed the device back over to the scientist and then folded his arms in thought. The scientist shook his head and mentioned "Possible, but until we can get more data we're only stuck theorizing. For now, I have a more interesting matter to bring to your attention, Zero."

"What's that?" Zero perked his head up to listen closely. The scientist smiled and remarked "We have determined from the current data that Repliforce might be in pursuit of a top-secret material on one of our trains. This information has been passed on to the Commander, and once it's been processed we'll be able to intercept whichever members of Repliforce they choose to send after it."

"Being able to plan our defense ahead of time will reduce casualties on both sides."

"…Both sides, sir?" The scientist, for all his knowledge, was quite perplexed and tilted his head. Zero closed his eyes and let out a rough, tired sigh. "I still don't believe Colonel has truly gone Maverick…"

"That's just you being hopelessly optimistic, Zero." The scientist bluntly commented, to which Zero thought _"Yeah, but…"_ with images of Iris looking incredibly sad flashing through his mind, the robot opened his eyes and felt a sharp pain in his chest that he couldn't explain.

With a slight shake of his head after a long pause, Zero remarked with a little humor "Maybe I am…Heh, X must be rubbing off on me." The scientist responded in kind "Speaking of him…I heard that he's finally been signed off on his new operator and should be out doing field work of his own soon."

"…That so?" There was a slight breath of relief from Zero's mouth that he hadn't realized was out at first. Cracking the first smile in what felt like a while, the Hunter mentioned to the scientist "Alright, I'll direct him here. Pass on any further information to him too."

"Of course. Can't have one of our top Hunters going in blind now can we?" The scientist smiled and turned around to get back to work while Zero left the room. Just like last time, he ran into X right away. The two faced each other and Zero commented light-heartedly "This is starting to become a pattern, X."

X replied in a slow, concerned tone "Did you rest well Zero?" Zero nodded his head and brushed a hand out, commenting nonchalantly "No big deal. You, on the other hand, look ready to collapse and you haven't even been out in the field yet."

The blue Hunter's eyebrows drooped and he sighed "It's not easy dealing with all that paperwork…" Zero then questioned "But is your new operator worth it?" and X mustered up enough energy to give an honest but gentle sounding critique "I'm willing to give him a shot. He has his faults, but he's trying to help as much as he can."

"Huh, so things are going well then." Zero quietly commented. X was no fool to his friends' emotions, and quickly he asked him "Things aren't going well with Iris, are they?"

With a heavy expression of guilt, Zero stared down the hall away from X and mentioned "I haven't talked to her since I got back. Don't even know what to tell her, if I have to be honest." As X empathetically said his name, the Hunter closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Anyways, I shouldn't hold you up X. Now that you're heading out into the field, you might want to pick up Frost Walrus and Jet Stingray's powers. If nothing else, at least they can carry the fight on through you."

As Zero began to walk off, X asked him "What are you going to do Zero?" The Hunter replied nonchalantly "Wait to hear more about what Repliforce is after…Nothing else either of us can do until then really." He waved his left hand up and exited X's hearing range with a swift remark of "Later X."

With Zero gone, X hung his head a bit and thought on the current conflict. _"Colonel…General…Just what are you two really after? Are you fighting for the 'truth'…or are you secretly planning to incite a war?"_ He looked up and remembered what a brave and dutiful soldier Colonel was. Such a Reploid could not possibly, in any right state of mind, willingly choose war.

"Unless…he's been infected by the Sigma Virus…" X trembled at the thought and looked down at his right hand. That hand of his had killed so many Mavericks in the span of the last few years, a lot of them being former comrades. And with that same hand, X had taken their powers into his mind.

" _Once more, I'll have to do this…"_ He disliked the notion, just like he has every other time this conflict brews, yet he curled his fingers into a fist and with a firm expression mentioned "No, this isn't going to be like the other times. We'll find out the truth. I can't just let Zero handle this by himself."

X dashed into the laboratory and passed by the scientist Zero was talking to earlier. He stood in front of the Repliforce corpses and stared up at their lifeless eyes. Raising his hand up, he touched and absorbed their power with a glowing palm, all the while he grit his teeth and murmured "I won't let your death's be in vain. Whoever's responsible…I'll stop them, I promise."

As he pulled his hand away and spun around, X was directly face-to-face with the scientist and his awe-struck expression. "I never get tired of seeing your copy ability in action X. A shame that power can't be copied to other Reploids…Imagine how practical that would be in the field." X laid a hand on his hip and with a gesture of the other out commented "It would be dangerous for a Reploid with that kind of power to go Maverick."

"Quite true. That's why it's a good thing you've never gone Maverick." That ill-timed remark got X's expression somber in a matter of seconds. The scientist quickly stuttered "F-Forget I said anything. Allow me to get you up-to-date on what we know…"

After a brief review of the facts, X suddenly heard the voice of his new operator Double yelling at him from down the hall. "X! X! Where are you?! You have orders to mobilize right away!" The Hunter looked at the scientist and said "Thanks for the help. Now…time to get to work!" He ran out of the room, only for his portly protégé to end up ramming right into the side of his body and knocking them both down.

X ate the ground pretty hard, while Double's gelatinous body absorbed most of the impact. The operator got up and while swinging his arms exclaimed "Oh no! Sorry Mr. X! I didn't know you'd be in the lab of all places!" He scrambled to get X to his feet, and the Hunter was surprisingly gentle about the whole thing as he rubbed his chin and mentioned "Don't worry about it, I didn't see you either."

He then took up a professional attitude as he looked Double in the eyes and asked "So what's going on?" Double quickly explained while waving his arms out hastily "We've gotten word of Repliforce Guerilla Web Spider protecting a secret weapon in their jungle facility. The order's been given for you to go in and take him out and recover the weapon."

"Weapon? What kind of weapon?" X inquired in surprise. Double stammered to try and remember "U-Uhhh…It's either a cannon or some sort of bomb. Either way, it's something that packs a lot of firepower!"

"Alright, I understand. I'll head to the teleporters now. You know what to do, Double."

Double saluted as hard as he could and proclaimed "I won't disappoint you sir! Good luck out there!" X nodded his head and turned around, sprinting down the hallways until he was on the teleporter necessary to head off. It took a couple minutes for Double to set up the coordinates, but when he was done X was off and running.

The Hunter arrived in a lush jungle on top of a slowly flowing creek near the top of a waterfall. From here he could see past the canopy below, where the mechanical trees had been planted in prime positions to absorb nutrients from the current and soil. A rainbow stretched out over the horizon, acting as a relaxing sight in these trying times. X laid a hand on his right wrist, and before he turned it into his signature arm cannon he breathed in the fresh jungle scent and thought _"I wish I could stay here longer…"_

After a calming sigh, X leaped off the waterfall and splashed down into the knee-deep creek below. He looked ahead with a determined expression and was ready to go into battle, even if a part of him disliked what was happening. But before he took even one step forward, Double's voice came screeching into his ear.

" _X…X can you hear me?!"_

X grit his teeth and laid a hand on the side of his helmet. "Double…You need to turn the volume down." There was a slight scratch in the communication before things evened out. Double then quickly apologized _"It was set high by the last operator. Sorry for not noticing. Anyways…I've detected a high-energy signal coming from up ahead. Could they already be deploying the weapon…?"_

X then murmured in interest and with a hint of familiarity "High-energy signal…?" before swiftly asking Double "Wait, tell me where the signal's coming from and I'll investigate it."

" _It's in a cavern past the end of this creek. Drop down a level and you should find it. Be careful though X…there's a lot of waterfalls in this area."_

X dashed ahead along the stream, keeping his buster raised to fire upon probes that leapt out from the cover of the water. He vaulted over some raised rocks and was soon enough ambushed by a tall blue one-eyed fish Reploid wielding a trident. The creature tried to stab the prongs down onto X's helmet, but he rolled to the right and began charging his buster.

He fired a blue shot of energy as big as his body, but the Reploid sliced through it while firing three small needles into X's body. Though they stuck in his body, it didn't do much besides making the Hunter squint. He fired another charged shot out and blasted through the center of the Reploid's body, the other parts falling and being led adrift by the stream. X then sprinted forward and hopped off the edge of the steam, landing on the edge of a small cavern.

His glance paused at a sight ahead of him, and he slowly approached what he had discovered. It was a small standing glass capsule with a roof displaying a boot symbol on it. He stopped a few feet away from the capsule as a hologram slowly displayed itself within the glass chamber. It was an old, portly man with a shaggy white beard and an intellectual demeanor.

"Dr. Light…?" X was taken aback in surprise, with the hologram speaking directly to him with a reserved and respectful greeting _"Hello X. It's been a while, hasn't it? Though, I suppose you'd be better for us both if I didn't have to appear."_

X shook his head and asked "Why would you say that?" Light replied while closing his eyes and looking a little melancholy _"Humanity's line of defense against the Mavericks is divided by rather unfortunate circumstances, and now you have been forced to fight against those you once called 'friends'…"_

Depressingly, X made a remark of "…It seems to be all-too common these days…" Light sighed and admitted _"I never intended for you to be awakened in a world of such strife. Forgive me for that, X…"_

X raised his head up and tried to look a little more cheery as he told him "Don't be like that doctor. I just…" he bundled his fingers into a fist and held it beside his shoulder, gritting his teeth and saying in disbelief "I just wish I could do something to stop Repliforce without having to destroy them."

" _Do you believe they haven't lost their way?"_

X looked ahead and gave a firm nod. "Of course. Someone has to be framing them…someone who'd want nothing more than to watch the world fall into chaos." Light went silent for a moment save for a short, contemplative hum. X looked up at him and asked "Is something the matter?"

" _There are always those who want to watch the world burn X. It's just in the nature of humanity, and that very nature has begun to be mimicked by Reploids as well. In this way, the gap between the two have been bridged…in the worst possible."_

He slowly creaked his eyes open and cracked a proud smile at X. _"You haven't lost your concern for others, X. Though the world may be in turmoil now, there is always a chance to save it. Your compassion can still save this world."_

X laid a hand on his buster and with a melancholy look brought to Light's attention "I still have to fight…Mavericks aren't going to listen to reason." Light closed his eyes and rubbed his chin with a couple gentle nods. _"Yes…I can't ignore that. For the sake of defending yourself, I shall still provide you with armor parts. This capsule in particular contains the leg parts for your Fourth Armor, which will allow you to levitate for a few seconds over wide gaps. Step inside if you wish to claim them, and I wish you the best of luck, X."_

The hologram flickered out of existence, and as the glass slid back X hopped into the capsule so his body could be scanned over. The legs in particular glowed bright as they were given a pair of white boots with some blue and yellow lines on it along with a red spike raised somewhere near the heels. He hopped out of the capsule and tested the boots by hovering a few feet forward, making a soft landing on the ground. He then hopped again and used his air dash, making sure that was still functional.

Once he was done, he murmured "Thanks Dr. Light…" and cracked a hopeful smile. Before he got a move on though, Double chimed in _"Wait…who was that? X…you knew that man in the hologram?"_

X laid a hand on the side of his helmet and responded "Yeah, he's Dr. Light…From what I understand, he's the man who created me." Double gasped in intrigue _"No kidding? I've never heard of a Dr. Light before, but it's pretty cool that your creator is still helping you out from another location."_

"…Actually, he's dead. What you saw was his uploaded consciousness." X's tone took on a rather solemn vibe, to which Double then remarked rather casually _"Oh, so kinda like what Dr. Cain did when he died."_

"Dr. Cain might've copied Light's work. I heard he did the same thing with my body when he created the Reploids."

" _Heh, guess he was a big fan…still don't know who this Light guy is though."_ As Double expressed confusion, X laid a hand on his hip and remarked "Forget about it Double, we got work to do. Just keep an eye out for anymore capsules and let me know."

" _O-Oh sure! Roger that!"_

X sprinted out of the cavern and leaped down past the smaller waterfalls, running across some two-legged probes that were crawling the ceilings and walls and firing projectiles at X. He kept his buster out to destroy them during his descents down ladders and ledges, then he finally landed on another stream at the very bottom. Up ahead was a large gap with a waterfall gushing down into it, dragging platforms of debris slowly down.

X paid close attention to the way the platforms were falling before he ran to the end of the path and started leaping across them. His new boots were efficient in keeping his landings precise, but the enemy was attempting to ambush him from behind. A pair of merman Reploids leapt across the platforms with greater speed than X were quickly closing the gap.

Looking back for a moment, X's body changed to an icy-blue color and as he hopped backwards he fired a body-sized tower of spiky ice onto the platform he was on. The Reploids following him impaled into the tower and were dragged down into oblivion. X looked at his arm cannon and nodded his head in approval of the weapon's utility, but chose to go back to his regular buster for the probes up ahead.

After getting past a couple more cascading waterfalls, X found a ladder that would lead him higher into the area. He hadn't yet seen any signs of a fortress nor a secret weapon, but assumed he had only begun to penetrate the place's exterior defenses. He kept going past more probes and scaled the walls until he had found a cybernetic door meshed into the face of a stone wall, at which point he used a charged shot to bust through not only that, but the two mermen that dropped in to try and defend it.

X then ran into the passage and after a few seconds of moving through the damp cavern ended up away from all the waterfalls and was now deep inside a bountiful thicket of trees and other plants. At that point, Double called in and said _"I'm detecting Web Spider's signal just ahead. You're almost there X, be careful for any traps."_

"Got it." X gave an affirmative response and then went on ahead, hopping past a couple inclines before a web of electricity suddenly formed in front of him. He ran into it and received a nasty shock that flung him back, sending him tumbling down the second incline until the back of his helmet struck a thick tree trunk. He took a few moments to stand back up, but when he did he thought _"…Ok, time to keep an eye out for those…"_

With that vow, he charged his arm cannon and thrust it upward, blowing up the spider who weaved the web and disabling said web in the process. He then continued onward, slipping past robotic snakes and more probes while going down to lower levels. The jungle started to resemble a reserve at that point, one specifically designed for wasps as there were dozens of metallic nests hanging from the ceiling as he moved on.

But not even swarms of mechanical wasps were able to sway X's resolve, as the Frost Tower he got from Frost Walrus was able to destroy any of those bugs that were foolish enough to fly his way. Using that for defense while keeping his buster out for the other probes, X eventually escaped this confined space and ended up finding a series of tree branches leading to some small facility on the other side of a massive gap.

This had to be the spot the weapon was concealed, especially seeing how there were some communication towers to the left and right of the trees. X made his way across the trees, destroying the remaining traps and probes until he was at the facility on the other side. He headed down a wired tunnel and approached a steel door. Entering through it, X found a thicket of leaves on the roof and a metallic carrier that was empty to the left.

He immediately laid a hand on his helmet while scanning the room. "Double, there's no sign of Web Spider or the weapon. When did you receive this intel?"

" _J-Just an hour ago sir. I swear, both of them should still be there!"_

X lowered his hand and continued to look around. He was naturally suspecting of the circumstances that had drawn him to this place. _"Was this a trap set by Repliforce?"_ As he had those thoughts, he heard some skittering coming from above. He turned around and raised his head, slowly pointing his arm cannon at the leaves.

With a couple steps back, X swerved his body to keep a full-range of visibility on whatever target might try and get the drop on him.

" _Hehehe…"_

"Who's there?!" The raspy laughter unnerved X slightly, and he began to fire into the tree. However, all he managed to do was dislodge some leaves. Locked onto the ceiling with all he's got, X was unaware of the large mechanical arachnid slowly creeping down an electric strand behind him.

"Soooo…the Hunter hazzzz come to plaaaay…?" A deep, hollow rasp comes from behind X, sending a shiver through his body as he spun around and aimed his buster at the source of the voice. The spider had a couple shades of yellow on it's body, with two large back legs, two small front arms, and four little ones on the sides of his spiked, rotund backside. His head was comparatively tiny, with a pair of pincers that moved in tune with his voice and only his left eye remaining functional while the other was covered by a metallic patch.

X stared at the Reploid for a little bit and then lowered his arm cannon. "You're Web Spider." He stated the obvious while trying not to show any ill-will towards them. Web Spider was not in the same boat, as he cocked his head to the right and remarked "And you are X…Zzzz…The tool of the same government that betraaaaaaayed uzzzz…"

The Hunter pulled his arms back and said in surprise "Tool? What are you talking about?" The arachnid replied while cocking his head the other way "You obey their every whim without quezzzztion…It is so zzzzicekning to think of. They only let you be who you are…zzzo long as you don't go aaaagainst them…Defy…" He twisted his head around, making an excruciatingly realistic neck crack sound as he grimly remarked "And you diiiiie…"

"That's Maverick talk."

"ZZZZILENCE!" Web Spider twisted his head back into place and gave X a furious glare. "You label us all azzzz Mavericks…Trying to demean our ability to think for ourselvezzzz…But I would rather be a Maverick than a dog like you, X!"

Web Spider then gesture a hand out, remarking in an eerily serene tone "It izzzz true that there are genuine Maverickzzzz out there…Those infected by the virus…those who have lost their mind…But the word's been maaaaaanipulated, made to be propaganda for thozzzze who lay in comfort in the shadowzzzzz…Humanzzzz are scared…Scared of us all…And soon enough, they will turn their terms against uzzzz all…Making sure that all Reploidzzz are labeled and destroyed…Until eventually they are aaaaaaall picked off…One. By. **ONE.** "

He ended by wiggling a finger towards X, swinging himself forward so that finger would tap the Hunter on the chest. X raise his buster at Web Spider and exclaimed "Enough talk! Where did you stow the weapon?!" Web Spider rolled his eyes and spun himself around, gesturing his left hand out and remarking "There izzzz no weapon…Not anymore, at least…"

"What do you mean?" X inquired, to which Web Spider replied with a hint of maniacal glee "You fell for a decoy of information, Hunter…Hehehe…We planted the information in your bazzzze to lure you to this jungle."

" _W-What?! The info was a f-f-fake?!"_ Double was a little too exasperated by this eye-opening revelation, to which X more calmly asked of Web Spider "What's the purpose of this decoy?" The arachnid spun around and rubbed his hands together mischievously.

"Why…to split apart you and your little red friiiiiend, Hunter…And to eliiiiiminate you both."

Web Spider then thrust his left hand out and fired an electric web into X. The web expanded to wrap around his body and magnetize him to the door he entered through. X received a painful shock that made it difficult to react as the Reploid before him swung forward and detached from the strand, where he spread his limbs to stick to the wall on both sides of the Hunter.

"Perisssssssh…" Web Spider opened his sharp pincers near X's neck, ready to clip the head off from his shoulders. X ripped his arm cannon out of the confines of the web and smashed it into the Reploid's gut, firing a point-blank charged shot into it. Web Spider was launched onto his back on the other side of the room, with X ripping the web off of him and landing on the ground.

" _X! He's right! I just checked in with Iris! Z-Zero's off pursuing a cargo train that's been hijacked by Repliforce!"_ Double suddenly called in with a panicked tone, with X aiming his buster at Web Spider and yelling "What's the meaning of this?! Who gave this order?!"

Web Spider flipped onto his feet and ruffled his wired feelers, responding with malicious "Thizzzzz is not an order. It is our decision…!" X exclaimed while charging his buster "Who are you talking about?!" Web Spider shot a strand of electric web to the ceiling and tauntingly remarked "You zzzzzhall never find out. Perish in your confuzzzzion, dog of the government!"

Web Spider swings up into the camouflage of the leaves, and X fires his charged shot upward. Blowing aside a ton of leaves, the Hunter ended up missing his target. X kept his buster locked upward and was ready to fire should Web Spider show up again. Cuing in to the rustling of leaves, X instinctively fired towards where they were at in the center of the tree but only ended up taking down another web projectile.

The originator of the attack simply dropped from the ceiling above X with arms outstretched to snatch him away. The Hunter spun around and then did a backwards leap, firing a few pellets into Web Spider's body. The arachnid opened the back of his body and flung a few tinier spiders in the way of the projectiles, causing them to all blow up the moment they made contact. Web Spider then flung a web through the smoke and snatched X up in it, dragging him back into the wall.

Web Spider quickly flew forward by swinging his body by the strand he dangled from, and his pincers were again aimed for X's throat. The Hunter swung his head to the right and the Reploid impaled into the wall, with X throwing a punch into his gut as hard as he could to blow him back. With Web Spider rolling on the ground, X ripped himself free from the web and then aimed a charged buster at his foe.

Slippery as he could be, the Reploid leaped to the ceiling and out of sight once more, leaving just a crater in his wake from X's attack. X then grit his teeth and swung his arm cannon aside, activating Jet Stingray's powers by gaining a pink and blue armor color. He then aimed forward and fired a miniature stingray drone at the ground. It ran up the wall on the other side of the room and eventually crawled along the ceiling. X would very soon hear a small explosion go off that would shake Web Spider free from his hiding and send him plummeting to the ground.

X charged his buster and then spun around, cocking the weapon straight up into Web Spider's gut. Even his bulky frame could not withstand the power of X's charged shot twice, and the blast ripped through his body and left a gaping hole within. Web Spider's eyes widened, and his limbs start to flail wildly as his circuitry broke down. X pulled back and watched as the Reploid died before his very eyes, not even able to answer the questions the Hunter still had on his mind.

X dispelled his buster and clenched his fists, raising one before his chest and muttering in confusion "Why does this keep happening? We shouldn't be fighting against each other!" Double chimed in at the worst time to say _"Forget about it X! We need to get you back to base to provide back-up to Zero!"_

"Double! We just-" X had objections to that rather blunt reply, but he wouldn't be able to fully voice them as Double warped him and Web Spider's corpse back to base to deal with a more pressing matter…

 _Next Time: Clash on a Runaway Railway_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Razor Whirlwind of the Wild, Slash Beast**

Back in the headquarters, Zero was wandering around at a sluggish pace. His mind iron-focused on wondering just what the heck Repliforce could possibly be planning. _"A secret within the Arctic Base, an attack on a power plant…Just how are these things connected? I wonder if Iris mi-"_ He stopped walking and moved his hand away from his chin. Shaking his head a little, he sighed and murmured "No…I can't do that."

He placed his arms against his chest and pondered the possibility of reassigning Iris to another Maverick Hunter unit, just so she wouldn't have to suffer through watching the destruction of her former unit. But deep down, Zero found himself greatly valuing her expertise. _"Doppler Town, the Erasure Incident…She's been there helping throughout all that. I could still use her help, but…Is it really worth it?"_

"Something on your mind, Zero?"

Zero turned around and was met with the indomitable presence of fellow Hunter Signas. The man stopped a few feet away and nudged his brows only the slightest bit upward, his way of expressing curiosity. "Oh, Signas. You came at the right time." Zero waved a hand out and greeted the man respectfully.

Signas stood there and listened in with a stern glare that perfectly portrayed the attention he was willing to give. Zero spoke out with a rough, tired voice "It's about Iris…I was wondering if you'd be able to have her transferred to another unit."

"…Are things not working out with her? That's strange, you two seemed like the perfect match." Signas laid a hand on his chin and cracked a tiny smile, perhaps being a little teasing regarding the two's relationship. Zero missed the sight of that smile as he shook and lowered his head before replying "Nothing like that. At least, I don't think so…But you know the situation. X and I are going to be keep being tasked with taking down Repliforce's strongest officers, and as long as this whole thing goes on…"

"Iris will hate every second of it." Signas finished his thoughts with acute understanding, and with his eyelids clenched down in deep thought he replied "Your consideration for your comrade's well-being is commendable, Zero. You seem to share that very nature with X himself. However…"

He opened his eyes and had to be quite curt with his comrade "That is ultimately Iris' decision to make, not yours." Zero held his arms against his chest and sighed "Yeah, I figured that was the case…"

"…Zero, just remember that you two are not the only ones having to fight through the guilt of facing former allies. That's the burden we all must bear as Maverick Hunters, whether we like it or not…" On that heavy note, Signas continued to walk past Zero, the Hunter slowly pivoting to watch him make his way around the nearby corner. Zero then paused for a moment, raising his open right hand before his waist and remarking quietly "Yeah…guess you're right, Signas."

He realized at that point that he'd have to bite the bullet on this matter and go talk to Iris. Thus he made his way through the halls of this base until he ended up in the command center. With a swift glance to the right, sure enough, Iris was sitting there, slowly tapping away at the computer. Zero approached her at a brisk pace, being quiet as he called her name out. She stopped what she was doing on the spot and slowly swiveled her chair around, staring up at Zero with sagging eyelids.

The two exchanged a stare for a few seconds. Zero felt there was a wall between them that not even his blade could cut, and the words necessary to do so just wouldn't come out of his mouth. "I-Iris…I…"

"Zero, please, let me speak first." Iris was a bit more forward than she usually was, and Zero stood attentive as the girl hung her head and laid her hands atop her kneecaps. She remarked slowly and saddened "T-This isn't right what we're doing…I just know it isn't, but…Frost Walrus was hiding something, Jet Stingray took out a major power plant, and my brother is doing who knows what out there behind all our backs."

Her fingers gripped around the cloth on her kneecaps, her body trembling as her voice got shakier "I-I don't want us to fight Repliforce, but if they're acting like Mavericks then…then you have to-" Zero firmly stopped her by saying "Iris, you are not obligated to stay here. Signas can file to have you transferred to another unit if-"

"But I don't WANT to go to another unit! I want to stay here and help you, Zero!" Iris swung her tear-drenched face up and pleaded to Zero with all her heart. Zero froze for a moment, a feeling rising inside his chest that he could not explain. He looked Iris in the eyes and said "It's not right that you have to keep watching this unfold."

"I know that…I know, I know, I know…!" Iris clenched her fists before her chest and shook them roughly, then descended into a calmer state of mind as she glanced aside and told Zero "…I-It might turn out my brother has gone Maverick, it may be that he hasn't. No matter what the truth is, I-I have to stay and find out! I care about you both too much to just give up, even if it's too much to bear!"

"…" Zero stared Iris in the face, her plight leaving her panting tiredly for a good few seconds. Her will to help was as strong as his and X's will to fight. _"…Guess Signas was right…"_ Zero thought before he waved his hand out and relented to his partner "Ok. I won't try and change your mind then. We're in this together, Iris."

"T-Thank you Zero." Iris retracted her hands and started blushing. However, this tender moment would soon be interrupted by a siren going off within the command center. Zero looked up as the room was flushed in a dark red shade "Again? What's going on now?"

Iris spun to face the computer and quickly brought up what information she could. "T-There's a Repliforce train charging straight towards a storage facility in the southern part of the continent!" Zero leaned against the back of Iris' chair and asked "Shouldn't the defense be activating?"

"No good!" Iris shook her head a few times and then continued "The power's still down there and there hasn't been enough time to send in back-up!" Zero reeled back and immediately commented in an unsurprised tone "So that's why they attacked the power plant."

He then swung his left fist up and exclaimed "Type in the coordinates Iris, I'm going to stop that train!" Iris swung back as Zero was heading for the exit, yelling out in concern "Be careful out there!" but he didn't hear that by the time he was far out the door. Iris turned back around and quickly typed the coordinates in, with Zero getting on the teleporter not long after. With just a millisecond to react, Zero activated his magnetic boots as he was brought to the speeding locomotive.

Assaulted by the gales of wind kicked back by the train's blistering speeds, Zero looked around and saw that the train was currently riding across a bridge high above a canyon. As the enemy had not yet noticed his boarding, Zero stood against the back of one of the supply crates and contacted Iris. "Any idea why Repliforce would target this depot?"

" _Not yet. I'm trying to pull up all known records for this place, but the information appears to be restricted."_

"Tsk…That tells me more than enough. Whatever's in there must be pretty dangerous." Zero glanced past the crates and saw a few Reploids patrolling the rooftops of this almost mile-long locomotive. There were armed laser turrets as well, but the small size of the barrels meant that if need be the Hunter would be able to duck under them.

Zero drew his sword and leapt over the crates, making a run across the rooftops and taking the enemy by complete surprise by cutting them down before they could attack. Then a radio alarm went off across the train, declaring to those inhabiting the vehicle _"Hunter Zero's attacking the train! I repeat! Hunter Zero's attacking the train! Do whatever's necessary to keep hold him off men!"_

As that alert was going off, Zero carved through his share of rotund Reploids and kept crossing more of the locomotive's cars as fast as his feet would carry him. He suddenly stopped when one of those Reploids were ready to lob a bomb his way, and he drew his sword back to cut it down. However, the Reploid displayed a tactic Zero wasn't quite expected as it lobbed the bomb right at the link between the two cars, dislodging the one Zero was on from the rest.

With the distance growing farther at an eventually exponential pace, Zero hastily lunged across the gap and landed on the next car with a roll. He turned around and watched as the cars he had traversed became a speck in the distance. He quickly spun back and dashed ahead, running into the first turret that rapidly charged a laser beam and fired it straight out at Zero. The power of the beam rocked the car and made it difficult for Zero to keep his footing as he swung his sword before his face and diverted the path of the laser in two directions.

When the turret had exhausted its energy, Zero ran towards it and sliced the barrel in half, causing a chain reaction to go off that destroyed the whole thing, with the Hunter already long past it. Then some bat-like machines started to drop napalms from the sky, greatly damaging the cars and roughing up Zero's focus and movement quite a bit.

Then a greater tremor shook through the train, with the next link having been broken off by a renegade bomb toss. Zero sprinted fast as he could and jumped off the top of the car he was one, landing perfectly on the next car. _"What are you doing back there?! Take him down!"_ The radio got much more angry and snarling sounding, and that led to more napalms being dropped down on Zero while the turrets fired off lasers at a faster rate.

Zero hopped back and hid behind a supply crate, only for it to be melted through by a laser and blown away by one of the stray napalms. He turned around and dug his sword into the bottom of the rest of the crate, using it like a crowbar to pry it out and send it flying into the turret to at least take care of that. The napalms still continued to fall though, an obstacle that was much more difficult to get around.

Zero took his sword in his other hand and turned the right one into an arm cannon, using shots to take down the flying bats ahead of time as he ran forward. At the end of this next car, Zero found the Reploid from the last couple of times ready to throw another bomb at the link. Zero shot down a bat and then roundhouse kicked the napalm across the way to blow up the Reploid so he couldn't pull that tactic off anymore.

Not that it mattered for this link as it was destroyed just a second later as the bomb rolled free from the Reploids' dead hand and landed on the link. Zero made his way across to the next car, where the radio operator lost the last of their patience and exclaimed _"You're all incompetent! I'm bringing in the Hammer Nail and ending this Hunter, now!"_

Zero turned around and noticed that the train was starting to depart from the bridge, and there was a second set of rails that connected to the one he was on. A large purple train car sped down that second railway and connected to this one, the front of this car having three large spikes slowly protruding out from it. Iris yelled out to Zero _"T-This is bad…!"_

"This does look like a pretty tough machine." Zero dryly remarked as he drew his sword and leaped back as one of the spikes thrust forward thanks to a piston within the machine. The spike smashed against the train and tore a pretty big chunk of it out that was swiftly destroyed by the laser gun on top.

" _Not that Zero! There's two other trains going right for the facility!"_

"A three-pronged attack…? Just how valuable is this place…?" Zero whispered in a pondering tone to himself while the machine before him thrust another spike into the train, tearing a larger chunk from it than before. With so many cars left on this train, Zero wasn't worried about running out of room anytime soon and instead kept his focus on the greater issue at hand.

"I'll do what I can, but I might need some back-up! Call in X, he should still be at the base!"

" _Negative! X was already assigned to go after Web Spider of Repliforce!"_ Iris' swift response brought a perplexed expression to Zero's face. He stepped forward and swung his body to the left, the spike passing by him and giving him a clean shot at cutting the top one apart. All the while, his mind was thinking _"X gets sent off right as this attack happens…This can't be a coincidence. We're being setup."_

Zero looked at the machine ahead and swung his sword back in one hand, the car he was on now halfway torn apart. The spikes were coming in faster, soon forcing him to retreat to the next car. "Iris! Are there any Repliforce officers on any of these trains?!"

" _Camera feed's too weak on all quadrants! I might be able to focus all resources into one camera, but-"_

"Forget about it then Iris! I'll handle this on my own!" Zero leaped off the car and landed on the machine, surprising the person running the radio _"W-What the…?! Is he insane?!"_ Zero then wasted no time in slicing through the remaining two spikes with all his might, causing a chain reaction to spread through the rest of the machine that would eventually blow it up.

Zero retreated onto the prior car and then started to continue his hasty advance to the front of the train as the whole thing barreled into a tunnel. The machine blew up at the entrance and caved it in, but there was thankfully lights all across the ceiling to keep Zero's vision clear. He turned around and ran across the train, where the Reploids were starting to bring in their big guns in the form of Ride Armors.

" _The other two trains have already penetrated the outer defenses and made it into the facility! A-And there's a fourth train at the northern end ready to load whatever supplies Repliforce is trying to escape with!"_

As Iris gave that alert, Zero leaped into the air and sliced down one of the Ride Armors' riders, getting into the vehicle and jerking the controls to the left so it would spin around and allow him to use the machine's energy blade to slice another Ride Armor in half. He pushed the levers forward to activate the thrusters while exclaiming to Iris "Everything converges at the center right?! I'll make a break for it while I still have a chance!"

Zero took the Ride Armor right off the train, fitting is just barely into the space between it and the wall. With the thrusters at full power, Zero was able to move faster than the train, all the while Iris explained to him _"The soldiers stationed here should be able to hold off the west and east trains for a few minutes! The northern train is very small…It shouldn't take much to destroy it!"_

"Right! But first things first…" Zero rushed to the end of the train and spun the Ride Armor to the right, grinding the jets against the wall as he took the blade through the front wheels. He then quickly sped forward with whatever energy the thrusters could push through. The train flipped onto it's left side and smashed down all the Reploids that were still on-board.

Zero didn't give the wreckage or the ear-grating noise it released any attention as he kept moving down the tracks towards the center of the base. "That'll take care of any reinforcements on this end…." He dryly remarked as his destination fast approached up ahead. The small train he was looking for was at the northern end of a wide-open, circular room with many other tunnels and tracks running through it.

The Hunter made his charge for the train, determined to take it down and cutting off the assailant's route of escape. However, midway through the room, Iris chimed in a panic _"Z-Zero! To the ri-"_

Her warning came far too late, as a brown blur streaked straight towards Zero's Ride Armor, lashing out a pair of nasty looking silver talons that ripped right into the side of the machine and hoisted it up. Zero was forced to tumble out of the ride, rolling until he was left kneeling before the end of the northern train. He wouldn't get the chance to pause and determine the identity of his attacker as the broken down Ride Armor was thrown right at him, forcing him to leap back before he could be fully caught in it's destructive explosion.

However, just grazing the edge of the explosion sent him hurtling onto his back and skidding across the back car. The train then shook and started to move out of the northern tunnel. Zero scrambled to his feet, laying a hand on the ground and gritting his teeth as the same brown blur started to speed after the vehicle.

" _So they did have an officer here after all!"_ He hastily laid a hand on his helmet to try and contact Iris, but the blur lunged themselves up onto the train and brought a claw straight towards Zero. He hopped back as the claw smashed through the floor with relative ease, but forced the wild beast who was attacking him to stop completely. Zero had only a few seconds to observe this Reploid.

They had the visage of a lion, with a sharp golden metallic mane and four predator claws at the end of each limb. He was a stalwart figure, with an imposing presence that Zero had not seen in a Reploid in quite some time. And with his left eye being made of blue glass, it was clear they had seen plenty of action, perhaps even before Zero himself had been activated from his capsule. This Reploid proudly wore the Repliforce insignia on his right shoulder, and spoke to Zero with a rough, beastly snarl.

"So you're the Maverick Hunter Zero. You were bold to come after me and my unit, but in the end you are nothing more than prey lured into my cage!"

The Reploid ripped through the ground in an attempt to claw through Zero's chest and chin. The Hunter leaped back, noticing in the moment he had that they were carrying a small metallic crate under their left arm.

" _Zero! That's Slash Beast! He's a ferocious officer within the Repliforce ranks, and he's on record of having slain one-thousand Mavericks in his time!"_

Zero drew his sword out and repelled Slash Beast's next attack, exclaiming to Iris as sparks flew from their sharp weapons "And he's looking to make me his 1001st!" He then ignored her for the time being to glare fiercely at his foe, asking him quite bluntly "So this WAS a trap, wasn't it?! You did this to split me and X up!"

Zero swung his sword out a few times as Slash Beast kept lashing his claw out, remarking with an almost taunting praise "Astute observation, but that's not the only reason!" Slash Beast dug his right claws into the ground and spun his left leg up, managing to get a clean cut across Zero's chest with the back of his foot. This also launched him away, where his body crashed against the ceiling and then bounced down onto the last car on this train, which was only a flat platform.

As the train flew out of the tunnels and into a grassy field, Slash Beast jumped over to the last car on the back end while Zero staggered to his feet, rubbing the top of his head despite there not being a dent to his frame. He swung his sword out and kept a cautious stance while Slash Beast laid the crate on the ground, where it suddenly magnetized in place with four floor piercing locks.

"So whose orders are these? Colonel's?!" Zero demanded to know, earning a horrified gasp from Iris on the other line. Slash Beast hunched forward and swung a claw above his head, exclaiming "The attack on the facility? Yeah, that was his order…But to eliminate you and X from this world? Ha, that was a collaborative effort between me and Web Spider!"

"What? Why?!" Zero asked while swinging his sword out in front of him, but Slash Beast defiantly bore his sharp fangs and snarled out "Wouldn't you like to know?! Prepare to die!" He then ran forward and slashed his claws down at Zero's body, imprinting the air with jagged marks in a three way "X" formation. Zero had to just target the center of where the claws would swing to repel the attack, but the Reploid simply thrust his right claws straight at Zero's face.

Zero swung his left hand up and grabbed him by the wrist, diverting the claws to the right of his head and giving him a clean opening to thrust his sword towards Slash Beast's chest, only having a few hairs grazed off in the process. Slash Beast somersaulted back, dragging his foot claws along the air to release a sharp crescent projectile at his foe. Zero just barely swerved to the right to dodge the attack, widening his eyes at how much closer the encounter could've been.

As Slash Beast landed on the center of the platform, Zero exclaimed "So just what are you trying to steal from this facility?!" The Reploid replied ferociously "Why don't you come over here and find out, Zero?!" before getting on all fours and pouncing straight at his target. Zero leaned forward and dashed underneath the Reploid, turning around on a dime and slicing his sword up to cut one of the beast's back claws off.

As Slash Beast landed he used his front claws to brake, tearing the floor up the floor in the process. He then spun around and remarked "I knew you'd be a worthy opponent for me!" before letting out a proud roar and lunging right at Zero again, wildly swinging his claws out and forcing Zero on the defensive with how fast the attacks were coming out. His body kept being pushed back, with minimal space for him to maneuver away from the assault.

Eventually being forced to the edge of the platform, Zero started to feel his mind race as his feet tipped over the edge. However, Slash Beast suddenly dug three claws into Zero's chest and hoisted him into the air, cracking a wide grin before turning around and slamming him against the ground, declaring proudly "I shall not allow nature to claim my prey! You WILL die at my hands, Zero!"

Slash Beast ripped his hand free of Zero's chest and pressed the claws together, clearly aiming for the Hunter's head. Yet by freeing him from such a swift demise, he allowed Zero the ability to roll back and avoid another bout with certain death. He then got on his feet and made his next sword thrust precise and true as he cut right through Slash Beast's left shoulder as his claw was impaled into the ground.

The Reploid couldn't defend himself properly and not only was his limb sliced off from the rest of his body, but due to him being in the midst of pulling it out the arm was carried far, far away. Slash Beast roared in pain and dropped to his knees as sparks flew from the wires remaining in his shoulder socket. He laid a hand on the wound while Zero pointed a sword at his face and told him "You may have hunted 1000 enemies, but none of them were anything like me. You should've picked your prey more carefully, Slash Beast."

Slash Beast snarled venomously towards his foe "If you are going to mock me, then end my life right now! Rather die with my pride wounded as it is now than let a fool like you keep spouting nonsense!" Zero surprised the Reploid, however, by swinging his sword aside and telling him calmly "No. You're going to come back to base with me and answer a few questions."

Zero then turned and looked back at the crate. Walking over to it, he started to bend down to pick it up while remarking "Like just what it was you tried to steal…" only for Iris to suddenly shout out _"Zero! Behind you!"_

He spun around and immediately drew his sword to clash with a red, cylindrical laser blade. The surprise attacker struck with incredibly precise force, managing to force Zero back a couple of feet and giving them the room to land. Zero looked up and was completely shocked to find that his assailant was none other than Colonel.

Looking as valiant as ever, Colonel spun his sword and planted it on the ground like a cane under his right palm, his body standing perfectly in front of Slash Beast as a shield. Even with all that had happened, Colonel had the posture of a firm but kind guardian, and Zero started to feel guilty having the Reploid standing before him despite the fact that he wasn't a criminal.

"Colonel, you're here too?!" Zero forced a scowl through as he spoke, but Colonel ignored the comment and glanced over his shoulder to remark "You went ahead of schedule Slash Beast, what's the meaning of this?"

Slash Beast used what strength he had to bow forward and plead his case "S-Sir, there's a reasonable explanation for this, I swear!" Colonel's gaze moved towards the crate standing to the left of him and remarked calmly "It's alright. You got what we came for. We'll have plenty of time to talk about this when we get back to base."

"You're not going anywhere Colonel!" Zero slashed his sword back while standing sideways, raising his other hand up and matching glares with Colonel. The Repliforce officer stood to attention as Zero verbally lashed out "Just what do you think you're doing?! Attacking power plants, stealing supplies?! Have you lost your mind?!"

Colonel didn't even budge as he replied "What I've done, I've done for the sake of all Reploids and humans. You may judge me for this Zero, but all of this is necessary." Zero grit his teeth in a scowl and stated "Necessary? You can't possibly tell me that any of this necessary! These are the acts of a Maverick!"

Colonel waved his left hand towards the crate and calmly remarked "Look at this crate Zero. Do you know what's inside of it? Inside is a material so powerful, this crate alone could power an entire city by itself for months. And the government has secured at least a hundred crates of this material in that facility we stole it from. This material could save lives, provide power to the entire world, and yet the government has horded it all to themselves. Now…how is any of that fair?"

Zero, blind to Colonel's reasoning, yelled out to him "You want to talk fair? Do you think it's fair for Iris to be forced to watch as her own brother commits Maverick acts?!" The officer's brows furrowed, and he spoke with a little more disdain while keeping his cool "Leave her out of this Zero."

"Then stop fighting and come back! It's not too late if you and General end this coup now!"

Colonel hung his head and closed his eyes, responding slowly "Forgive me, but I cannot." His eyes opened at the sound of Zero thrusting his blade forward, followed by him declaring "Then I have no choice but to take you in by force."

Colonel slanted his stance and flipped his sword into an upward grip, remarking cautiously to Zero "You're in no condition to fight me Zero. My partner has inflicted some serious wounds on your body. Do not make a fool of yourself."

Zero clenched his sword tightly and then ran straight at Colonel. The Reploid swung his sword out and deflected such an obvious attack with ease without even shifting his position. Zero stumbled back a couple steps, widening his eyes but composing himself quickly to swing his sword downward. Colonel swiped his blade straight forward and blocked Zero's sword at the center, going past it and managing to nick the tip of his blade against the Hunter's forehead.

Zero jumped back after the attack had connected, laying his hand against the wound while Colonel remarked firmly "Stand. Down." The Hunter swiped his hand away and rushed at Colonel, stabbing his sword forward and exclaiming "HYOURETSUZAN!" to summon forth the sharp spear of ice from his blade. However, with just one quick slice upward, Colonel had destroyed both the ice and released a gale of wind blades that pushed Zero back and cut multiple times into his body.

His vigor fading, Zero dropped to his knees and clenched his right arm, looking up as Colonel pointed his sword forward and remarked "…I hope you don't plan on standing again, Zero." The Hunter bitterly scowled and started to push himself up when all of a sudden someone warped down in front of him, their arms swung out in defense of their comrade.

"I-I-Iris…?!" Zero and Colonel both exclaimed in utter shock. Sure enough, Iris stood between the two, her glare both firm but disappointed towards her brother. She pulled her head back just a little and took a deep breath, yelling out to him angrily "Why are you doing this brother?! Have you forgotten that Zero saved my life?!"

Colonel paused, the words of his sister piercing deeper than any cut Zero could've possibly made, and then he hung his head a little and replied "I had no intention of killing Zero, Iris." Iris yelled out with a slight nudge of her head forward "And I am to believe that?! Who else could've ordered Slash Beast and Web Spider to try and take down X and Zero?!"

Colonel's eyes widened and he slowly turned his head to glance over his shoulder. Slash Beast's docile stance had quickly shifted to one of teeth-gritting fright, and if he could sweat he would be doing so profusely as Colonel bluntly asked him "What is she talking about?" Slash Beast muttered fervently "Sir, she's making stuff up, I swear!"

"Answer me, soldier." Colonel's tone grew more aggressive, and the respect he had was swiftly being thrown away. Slash Beast kneeled not before a patient man, but before his executioner if he made even one wrong move. With fear as a motivator, Slash Beast hastily remarked "I-I swear we didn't mean anything by any of this! We were just told that X and Zero were a major threat to the world and needed to be taken down!"

"And just WHO told you that?" Colonel's eyes pierced right through Slash Beast's body. The Repliforce officer swallowed his pride and began to stammer "I-It was a Reploid named D-"

" _ **KRACKOW!"**_

A heavy firearm went off in the sky, and in one second Slash Beast's head was left with a massive hole through the skull. Everyone still standing on the train looked up and saw a one-man copter flying above with a sniper rifle attached to the dashboard. Operating the machine was a member of the Shadow Corps, and with a clean kill under his belt he coldly remarked to his comrades _"Slash Beast eliminated…Now targeting Colonel of Repliforce."_

Colonel looked down at the corpse of his former comrade, mortified at how cruel his demise was, but only had a moment to linger on that before he was forced to draw his sword to deflect the next bullet fired. He then turned around and scooped the crate off the ground, preparing to make a leap right off the train car. Iris tried to yelled at him to stop, but he would not listen. With the strength he could muster, Zero got up and ran for Colonel, exclaiming "Wait!" as he tried to slice the crate out of his hand.

Unfortunately, he only managed to snag the certification tag off of the crate, which landed on the ground beside his left foot due to the way he swiped his sword. Colonel tumbled down the hill and into a nearby forest, with the Shadow Corps member flying that way to try and finish his hunt. Eventually that sight was too far gone for Zero and Iris to see, but that merely left them both with a confliction of sadness and confusion in both their hearts.

"Brother…why?" Iris murmured before falling to her knees and placing her hands on the ground. Zero gripped his fists tightly and put his sword on his back, turning his head a little to the left and noticing the plate on the ground. "…We might be able to find out where he's taking that crate if we know what we're tracking. Lets see here, this is…" What Zero would find, however, would only be the first hint towards a more horrifying truth…

"Bass…nium…?" With the plate's name staring him in the face, Zero murmured it out almost robotically. Then, without warning, those images that haunted his very dreams flushed through his head and forced him to his knees, where he gripped the sides of his head and started to feel a painful shock through his mainframe. Iris' concerned cries were drowned out as Zero soon collapsed unconscious on the train…

 _Next Time: Divided Forces_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Progenitor of Spores, Split Mushroom**

 _A few hours later…_

Zero was resting in his pod to receive repairs after his battle against Slash Beast and Colonel. He laid there in a state of pure slumber, his mind drifting through the data installed in him as a means of dreaming. Right now though, his focus was strictly on the name 'Bassnium' that he had seen before collapsing. There was something so…familiar about that name, even though he had never heard that name or the material in question before.

" _Where have I…"_

Zero plummeted through the confines of his mind, images of his past flashing rapidly past him until he eventually found himself diving straight down into one very deep within his consciousness.

" _I don't…recognize this one…"_

He found himself waking up with a foggy veil around his vision and his body still inside of his capsule. However, he couldn't help but feel that right now he was trapped instead of being safe. Outside he could barely see two people talking outside of his capsule. One had strange, triangular protrusions on the sides of a helmet and appeared to be robotic, while the other person was a human with a bushy two-sided mustache and bald head.

" _THIS is your ultimate creation? It looks like some sissy girl! You've lost your touch along with your mind, doctor!"_

" _Pah! Laugh all you want B…."_ Zero's memories fizzled upon hearing a name, but then continued with clarity _"…but this robot is far stronger than you will ever hope to be! I created him out of the same material as you, but with programming far beyond our time!"_

" _You expect me to believe that? You couldn't even program a toaster properly! Besides, you already have the ultimate robot standing right here!"_

" _I have no need for a rebellious idiot like you who can't even destroy that pesky Mega Man!"_

" _What did you just say?!"_

" _You heard me! This robot I'm making, code name DWN-Infinity, shall put an end to L….legacy, and establish my place as the foremost expert in robotics as I always should have been! Soon, the world will forever remember the name….!"_

"Restoration process complete…Now depressurizing capsule…"

The sounds of the outside world snapped a rather entranced Zero out of his 'dream', and he slowly opened his eyes as the lid of his capsule pushed open. He laid a hand on top of his helmet and remarked in a daze "What was that all about…? I've never met any of those people…"

As he lifted himself out of the capsule, he looked to the right and saw Iris sitting on a chair with hands held before her chest and a troubled look on her face.

"Iris? How long have you been sitting there?" He asked right away, his voice heavy and tired. Iris perked her head up and swung her hands down upon her legs, remarking with a surprised jolt upright "Z-Zero! I-I-I didn't think you'd recover so quickly…!"

Zero pulled himself out of the capsule and glided his hand to the back of his head to rub it, remarking after a sigh "…How long was I out for?" Iris mentioned in a dutiful tone "It's been five hours since you collapsed on that train Zero."

She then twiddled her fingers around before her chest and hesitantly asked as Zero looked towards the door "W-What happened Zero?" Zero folded his arms against his chest and couldn't quite think of an answer to give to her. "Maybe I had been pushing myself too much lately." Was the best he could muster.

He then turned his head to Iris and asked "Give me a status report." Iris paused for a few seconds and turned her head away from Zero's gaze, making the Hunter recall the last things that had happened before he had been forced to rest. He folded his arms against his chest and thought _"Right…Colonel…"_

He recalled Colonel's attitude during their brief encounter on the train. The man was still as resolute as ever, but there was something that seemed off about him that Zero couldn't quite peg. Just a slight difference in behavior that meant quite a lot in the grand scheme of things. _"Could it be that Colonel has been infected by the Sigma Virus…?"_

He looked at Iris and realized that he couldn't possibly bring that possibility up to her face. Having to jump into the battle to stop her brother from attacking him had to have already been harsh enough. Though thinking on that matter caused Zero to brush his hand out and say with appreciation "Oh yeah, I haven't thanked you yet for coming in to help Iris."

Iris turned aside and looked quite flustered, with her mouth going agape as her words stuttered forth "I-It's nothing!" her voice then got weaker and melancholic as she rested her hands before her waist and remarked "I…I just couldn't let brother attack you like that…"

Letting out a sigh, Zero rested his hands at the hips and mentioned "No, you shouldn't have had to do that. You could've gotten hurt…" Iris didn't say anything and glanced aside, prompting Zero to ask her again "Iris…I really could use that status report now."

She turned her head and let out a sigh before slowly and quietly stating "We've lost sight of brother and the cargo he snatched from that government supply depot. Hunter X has returned to base safe and sound and has been busy dealing with minor Repliforce attacks while you've been out. Slash Beast and Web Spider are currently being studied by our top scientists for any information on Repliforce's plans."

"There's been no signs of Colonel, huh?"

"Yes…major Repliforce attacks have stopped since their attack on the depot."

"…That doesn't sound good. What could they possibly be planning?" Zero remarked in a pondering tone. He lowered his head a bit while Iris raised a hand and said "I-I have been trying to look up information on that 'Bassnium' material while you were sleeping. But all information is classified…"

"…Colonel did say that material had a lot of energy output. So they must be using it to power something. Tsk, if only the government was more willing to work with us here, we could actually get our job done!" Zero vented some frustration by punching the wall to the left of him, which let a brief gasp free from Iris' mouth. He looked at her and while slowly pulling his fist away apologized "S-Sorry Iris…"

Iris shook her head and mentioned "I want to know more as well, but our only solutions are to break past the government safeguards or find and confront my brother." It was a revelation that carried a lot of gravity to the overall situation the two found themselves, and Zero closed his eyes firmly while remarking "I can't expect you to do either Iris. As much as I hate it…We'll just have to wait and see what happens next."

Iris hung her head for a bit while Zero let out a sigh, the room filling with a tension that could crush a normal Reploid's body down to scrap. Then Iris perked her head up in an instant and remarked "O-Oh right!" before she ran to the other side of the room and pulled Zero's sword handle down from the wall. She turned around and handed it to him while mentioning "I asked the science division to give your blade a couple upgrades. Now you can use an electric whip made from Web Spider's data, and the ability to fire crescent blades from Slash Beast's."

Zero took the sword and placed it on his back, remarking in an appreciative but puzzled tone "You didn't have to do that Iris." Iris shook her head and said "You have to be prepared for anything Zero."

Suddenly, a radio went off in that room, saying quite professionally _"Hunter Zero, you have been assigned to investigate the reactivation of a Bio Laboratory in the western region. Please head to the teleporter as soon as possible."_

When the radio shut off, Zero joked "Like that, Iris?" and Iris commented in turn "They didn't say anything about Repliforce, right?" The Hunter replied with a brush of his hand out "No. Frankly, taking down a simple Maverick will be a nice exercise after that nap."

"Just be careful, ok?" Iris gave her concerns like she always does, and Zero brushed his hand out beside his face and remarked "I'll be fine with you backing me up" before he headed out the door. He then made a rush for the teleporters, with Iris following behind with her cheeks rosy red. Zero made it to his destination within a minute and waited out for Iris to set the coordinates. He is then sent off to the Bio Laboratory, perhaps a little too glad that he wasn't going to be dealing with Repliforce this time…

The warp sent Zero right onto the middle of a large winding staircase with barely any lighting save for what came off of the steps. In the center of the room was a towering elevator that went so far up that Zero couldn't see it all due to it being too dark. Before he made his way up, he laid a hand on his helmet and remarked "Iris, what can you tell me about this place?"

" _It was abandoned long ago by humans. They used to perform research on artificial plant life until an error forced the government to shut the place down. Ever since, it's been sitting here, decaying and being overrun by the plant life that had been kept here."_

"And now it's reactivated…A place like this couldn't possibly be of use to Repliforce, so what's going on here?"

" _No idea. A Reploid by the name of Split Mushroom used to help run this place, but when the lab was shut down he was decommissioned and destroyed."_

"Heh, maybe his ghost has returned to take revenge." Zero cracked a wide smile and Iris firmly shut down his attempt at a joke with a harsh reminder _"Not now Zero, this is serious. We need to find out who reactivated this place and stop them."_

Zero sighed and drew his sword, running forward up the stairs while remarking "Right, right, I'm on it." Along the way up the stairs, there were some standards defense drone moving about along with those bomb dropping bats Zero had seen back on the train. He managed to take them down with little difficulty, as usual, and eventually made it to a platform at the edge of a broken part of the stairs.

With no way to advance to the next part of the stairs, Zero hopped onto the platform and found himself being warped to a different part of the lab. This area was an uneven hallway with parts of the ground raised up and moss growing along the walls and ceiling. The air was thick with moisture and smelt of rust, which caused Zero to grimace his teeth in pain.

"Uuuugh, how long was this place abandoned for again?" He asked while slowly creeping through the hall, not wanting to have the floor break beneath his feet. Iris replied in a curious tone _"It's only been a couple years according to the records."_

Zero halted before a particularly unstable piece of ground, asking in a concerned voice "How high up am I right now Iris?" It took a few seconds before she would reply in a shaky voice _"Y-You should probably tread caution, Zero."_

"…Good enough for me." Zero sighed at that helpfully vague remark and then crept through the hallway, use his buster to pick off any flying drones that came after him. He avoided jumping to the best of his ability until he had to climb up to a doorway leading into a more stable tower in the lab.

Instead of being plagued with moss, this placed had metallic, spiked vines wrapping themselves through the sides of the walls, some of them even piercing inside. At the end of other vines were some flower petals wrapped together, and they only peeled open when Zero got close to them. These flowers were capable of releasing blue orbs of light for attack, but they were nothing strong enough for the Z-Saber to succumb to as Zero used it to cut them down.

Using agile leaps off the ground and walls to scale his way up the tower, Zero managed to deal with the close quarters by keeping his cool and being precise with the blade to deal with any flowers or drones that got in his path. Leaving a swathe of scrap metal in his wake, Zero eventually got to the top of the thinning tower and found himself heading outdoors.

By now, night had fallen, and the pitch black sky was lighted by a full moon. The light it cast down painted a canvas of ruination upon this once thriving lab for Zero to see. There were towers in the midst of collapsing from the decay rotting their structure, and others were completely overrun by a coat of moss. Zero remarked in a pitying tone "What a waste of resources…"

" _It's really sad…The people working here were trying to figure out how to make artificial plants that could simulate the properties of actual plants, but now this place is just…full of waste and decay."_

"And it's being used by someone for…whatever purposes. I can't imagine they're up to any good." Zero started hopping across the platforms in front of him to make it to the tower on the other side. As he crossed a bridge suspended over a thicket of spiked vines, however, the door to the tower slammed shut. The Hunter paused and held his sword at his hip, remarking in a cautious tone "There's going to be a defense drone…I know how this works."

He looked up to prepare for something to come down and fight him, but after a few seconds Iris exclaimed _"Zero no! It's below you! Watch out!"_ As she yelled that last part out, the ground below Zero's feet started to crack and he pulled back before a heavy-shelled purple drone broke through with the spikes on it's back. The drone spun around and then deactivated it's small jets to drop to the ground.

Zero swung his sword out and took a few steps back, gritting his teeth as he thought _"So, he attacks from below…Urgh, if only X was here, my buster's not strong enough for this."_ The drone rose up and broke through the ground directly below Zero again, and the platform between the two broken ones crumbled as well.

" _I have to take this thing down and fast, otherwise I'm going to run out of space!"_

Zero flipped over to the other side of the bridge as the drone broke through the last support on the southern side. Turning himself around on a dime, Zero gripped his handle tightly and looked down, counting three platforms were remaining. He was running out of time, and with the way the drone was constructed he knew just regular sword slashes wouldn't even dent the thing. The only part that looked vulnerable was the head.

" _Guess it's a better time than any to try my new abilities out…"_ Zero hopped back and looked down at his sword. Focusing on it with all he could as the drone broke through another platform, the Hunter whipped it forward and the green energy was replaced by a straight-forward rope covered in a thick quantity of electricity.

Perfectly timing his move, Zero managed to pierce through the drone's head and send high voltage through it's body. Pulling the whip back and returning it to it's original form, Zero watched as the drone crashed to the ground and blew up, taking out the floor of vines. The Hunter then raised the blade to his face and with a merry grin he rarely had he remarked "Iris, I really can't thank you enough for getting this upgraded."

Her pleased and somewhat embarrassed giggles came through the communicator as Zero turned around and made his way for the tower. The door was still shut, but a knocking noise was coming from the other side along with a muffled sound of _"Hey! Open up! Open up!"_

Zero paused, swearing he heard that voice before as he mentioned to Iris "I thought I was the only one here…?" Iris remarked in an equally curious tone _"You should be…I'm not detecting any other Reploid thought-patterns in the area."_

Curious, the Hunter stepped up to the door and gave it a couple knocks, yelling out to the person on the other side "Hey! Can you hear me? I'm with the Maverick Hunters, do you need any assistance?!" The voice let out a gasp of shock and remarked _"Zero…? Is that you? Wow, I can't believe I ran into you of all people way out here…"_

When the person spoke this time, their voice came across clearer and had a distinctly feminine vibe to it. Zero remarked in a pressingly surprised voice "A-Alia?!" _"Alia?! How did she get all the way up here?!"_

" _Hey Zero, can you cut a hole in the door? I was doing some investigating when this suddenly came down…"_

"…That's probably my fault. I must've tripped a sensor. Alright, just give me a moment, but stand back!" Zero stabbed his sword into the wall and started carving a hole big enough for the two of them. It took a matter of seconds, and then he kicked the wall down to open the way through. He walked past the door and glanced to the right upon hearing a cough from the rising dust, where he found the familiar sight of X's former operator standing in front of him.

She still had her old operating devices on and her colors were the same, but her hands were rough with dirt and traces of mold. Zero placed his sword on his back and asked "Small world huh? What brought you all the way out here Alia?"

Once Alia was done coughing, she brushed the dirt off onto her hips and remarked in a stern tone "Yes, it's nice to see you too Zero." Zero blinked a couple times as Alia lifted her head and with a gentle smile said "Anyways, I'm here doing some investigations on my own."

"Isn't a bit dangerous to be doing that? You HAVE heard what's going on with Repliforce, right?"

Alia nodded her head and sounded a bit insulted as she remarked "Just who do you take me for Zero? The reason I'm here HAS to do with Repliforce." Zero raised his brows and folded his arms, patiently hearing her out as she raised a hand up and mentioned "I don't buy into Repliforce causing the fall of Sky Lagoon. Someone has to have framed them, and that same person is also responsible for causing the Bio Laboratory to be reactivated."

"How do you figure?"

"After the incident at Sky Lagoon, I used cloaking technology to go to the crash site and check on that dragon weapon's frame. There were traces of moss that only come from this lab stuck to it's body, meaning that someone had to have come through here before they went to the facility holding the weapon."

"…You get that Iris?"

" _Yeah, I'll ask the science division to check the Repliforce units for any traces of moss residue right away."_ As Iris spoke out, Alia remarked with a cutesy smile "Hehe, so you and Iris are still working together, huh? How's she holding up?"

Zero sighed and said "As well as you can imagine considering the situation…" Alia nodded her head and admitted "Say no more." Zero then went on to ask "Oh, but X is doing ok. He finally found a new operator, but I think he still misses you a lot."

Alia held a hand close to her chest and with head hung slightly mentioned "I-I do plan to come back to the base soon, but there's just…a couple more things I need to sort out." Zero said calmly "Take your time. There's always a place for you back at Hunter HQ."

"Thank you Zero…"

"Before I get back to my mission Alia, there's something I want to ask you."

Alia perked her head up to take attention as Zero waved a hand out and asked "Ever heard of a material called 'Bassnium'? Some of it was stolen from a government supply depot by Repliforce and all information we can find is classified."

Alia laid a hand on her chin and remarked "Bassnium…It sounds familiar…But you said it was in a government facility, right?" As Zero nodded his head, Alia glanced left and right then leaned forward, whispering into his ear "There's this facility in the southern part of the continent that stimulates cyberspace in a realistic environment. It's also a place where one can collect information without restraint so long as they know what they're looking for. However, it's heavily guarded by a series of obstacle courses that could destroy most known Reploids and humans."

After Alia pulled back, Zero laid a hand on his helmet and remarked "You got all that?" and Iris replied _"X has returned to base by now. I'll let Double know and have him sent off under a 'Repliforce lead'."_

"Alright, thanks a lot Iris." Zero lowered his hand to gesture out to Alia before telling her "You too Alia."

Alia smiled and said "Just don't let X know that I gave this info. Last thing I want is for him to lose focus." Zero nodded his head and told her "You take care of yourself Alia. Like I said, there's always a home for you back at HQ."

"Thank you, Zero." With her honest appreciation, Alia exited through the hole Zero made, and the Hunter continued on deeper into the laboratory. After taking the nearby warp platform, Zero ended up on another staircase, making his way up there and teleporting to a more devastated hallway. He had to rush all the way through it since machines were in the midst of cutting it down. At the end he found himself on an elevator that carried him through a perilous, decaying shaft for a good couple of minutes. Once he was at the top, Zero hopped through a few more corridors until he found himself sealed up inside of a solitary room with no ceiling and seemingly nowhere to go.

"Iris, did I miss a passage on the way up here?"

" _No. This is weird, but…The enemy must be somewhere in this room, so be careful."_

As Zero put his hand down from his helmet, a shrill and excited voice barreled down closer from above "Wee-hee hee! Zero's finally here! At last!" Confused, the Hunter looked up and watched as a small yellow Reploid dropped from the sky, landing spryly on his feet a bit away from Zero. The Reploid had a head shaped like a mushroom cap and a stout, gourd-shaped body with a small round vent for a mouth.

The Reploid swung it's head back and proclaimed "Welcome to my Bio Lab! Hehehe, you sure came as soon as you could, huh?!" Zero folded his arms together and remarked "Your Bio Lab? Just who the heck are you supposed to be?"

"Why, I'm Split Mushroom! Didn't you do your research beforehand?" The Reploid's introduction brought a glimpse of shock from Zero's face as he quickly laid his hands at his hips and asked "No way, Split Mushroom was decommissioned when this lab was shut down."

"That's you heard huh? Heheh. Yep! It's true! My body was crunched down into an ugly looking scrap heap! It hurt…A LOT!" Split Mushroom was all too chipped for the pain he described, but Zero ignored his feelings and pressed him on his survival "Then just who rebuilt you?"

"Why, our Great Lord and Savior Sigma of course!"

"…Cut the crap, Sigma's dead." Zero bluntly remarked, with Split Mushroom wiggling his head back and forth while mentioning "No no no! He's not dead! Someone as magnificent as him could not possibly be dead! He's a necessity to the world, he gives hope to us lower Reploids who were just thrown away in the trash!"

"Tsk, so you didn't get the memo. Sigma died months ago when Doppler took him into his body and self-destructed his own town." Zero said with a minor degree of pity taken upon the loony Reploid. Split Mushroom laid a hand under his mouth and muttered "B-But I did see him! He IS alive! Our Great Lord and Savior cannot possibly die, not until his mission is complete!"

Zero grabbed the handle of his sword and slowly pulled it over his head as he spoke "You're out of your mind, and you've clearly gone Maverick. Sorry, but I'm going to have to put you down again." Split Mushroom reared his head back and exclaimed "Hehehe! The only one returning to the grave will be you, Zero! Time for you to D-I-E…!"

Zero ran forward and tried to slice the Maverick down, but they were too quick with their leap and managed to get over him and stick to the wall behind. Zero turned around and watched as Split Mushroom dug into the bottom of his cap and flung out a series of bright yellow spores into the air. The Hunter spun his sword above his head rapidly to create a gale to blow the spores away, with Split Mushroom hopping down and ramming his head right into Zero's chest.

The Hunter was pushed only a couple inches as the Maverick had little in the way of strength, and without the girth to make Zero flinch he quickly swung his sword at Split Mushroom and cut horizontally through his body. In doing so, however, he revealed a ruse in the form of a holographic copy of the Maverick, which distorted and then faded from view. Zero widened his eyes and with sharp reflexes spun around and swung with enough force to hurl up a gale that blew away the real Split Mushroom's attempts at throwing spores at him.

"You're not going to get me with such childish tricks." Zero remarked before he lunged forward and sliced his sword through the Maverick, but yet again ended up cutting into a clone. He quickly spun around and found Split Mushroom still hung to a wall while letting out a gleeful giggle.

"Yet you're falling for them so easily! Hehehe!" As the Maverick spent time gloating, Zero just whipped out his buster and fired at them, hitting his mark clean in their face and making them fall to the ground flat on their belly. Zero then leaped forward and tried to stab his blade through their back, only for them to roll out of the way while flinging more spores at Zero. This time he hit his mark, and the Hunter found the spores digging into his body and leaving him unable to move.

"Gggghhh…!" Not even his mouth could budge, forcing him to only grunt while Split Mushroom got to his face and then started punching him repeatedly in the body. "Take that take that you worthless Zero!" For all his efforts to attack, however, he wasn't even putting a dent into Zero's body.

The moment Zero broke free of the paralysis, he swung his sword out at the stiff in shock Maverick, but yet again found himself dealing with another copy. Widening his eyes and then looking a bit irked, he murmured "Ok, this is getting ridiculous…" and leaned a hand up against the nearby wall. As he gave it a couple taps, his mind suddenly came up with an idea.

Looking at his sword, he turned it into the electric whip and then leaped high to the right, lashing it out against the wall. The contact with metal sent a surge of electricity through it and the floor, flashing the room with a series of lights for just a moment as Zero pulled it back to ensure that he wouldn't be shocked upon landing. As he turned his sword back to normal, a fried Split Mushroom dropped to the ground from high above, weakly sputtering out "Y-You aren't any fun…"

"Tough luck…" Zero bluntly said before flipping his sword around and stabbing it through the Maverick's back, putting an end to his revived life. As the Hunter pulled the sword out of the Maverick, he let out a sigh of relief. It had been a while since he had just a simple cut-and-file Maverick to deal with, and that was just the kind of break he needed during this whole Repliforce crisis.

Laying a hand on the side of his helmet, Zero remarked "Wrapped things up here Iris. You can bring me and the corpse back to base now." _"Great job Zero! It seems you're in tip-top shape after all!"_ A simple exchange, a simple departure…This all seemed too simple for now…But this would be the last calm these two would have before being swept into a seemingly unending storm.

 _Next Time: Gauntlet of Madness_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Frightful Fowl of the Internet, Cyber Peacock**

It had been a long few hours for X. Ever since the attack on that supply depot, Zero had been out of commission and he was forced to take up his slack in the field. He was sent all over the place to deal with miniature insurgencies that had broken out in the wake of Repliforce's rebellion. Some of these were formed by groups of Mavericks trying to take advantage of the chaos, others were created by simple Reploids standing in agreement of Repliforce's beliefs.

Thankfully, in the broadest sense of the term, X was only forced to arrest the Reploids instead of putting them down. Of course, if any of them were discovered to be infected with the Sigma Virus, then their lives would soon be cut short anyways. When it seemed like he would finally have a break from all this work, X immediately sprinted straight for Zero's room to see how his friend was doing.

But the moment he arrived there, he found his capsule to be open and Zero nowhere to be found. Leaning a hand against the door frame, X glanced back at a couple Hunters passing by and asked "Hey, have either of you seen Zero?" One of them stopped and inquired in a puzzled manner "You don't know? He got up a while ago and was immediately sent out on a mission."

"Really?" X was not too surprised to know that. Zero was always more of a go-getter than he was, so him going out the very moment he awoke was just an inevitability. As the Hunters who answered him went on their merry way, X leaned back against the door frame and laid a hand on his chest, taking a breather nice and slow.

"Take it easy out there Zero, you looked really out of it when Iris brought you back to base…" X recapped the state of his friend a few hours ago, how Iris was carrying him back on her shoulders with much difficulty. She had a hard time as well explaining what had happened, only managing to hand over the plate showing what Colonel had absconded off with, and just what the material known as "Bassnium" was capable of.

Yet as X reflected upon that name, he found his mind hurting, as though struggling to recall something about that material. His hand moved from the chest to his forehead, and he leaned his head back while remarking "Bassnium…Have I…heard that name somewhere before?" He eventually shook his head and murmured "I must be imagining things…"

He pulled away from the door frame and rubbed his helmet a little bit before laying the hand beside himself and looking forward, remarking in a tired tone "I've been working too hard lately…But so long as these rebellions are happening, I won't be able to stop." Closing his eyes and letting out a slow sigh, the Hunter pondered if even Repliforce being quelled would truly be enough to stop this madness.

" _X! X! X!"_ A sharp squeal from his operator was more than enough to snap his thoughts away from such a dreadful idea, though it did leave what represented his heart in a state of shock for a moment. He quickly laid a hand on the side of his helmet and asked "W-What's up Double?"

" _I just got some intel from Iris. Apparently, there's a lead on Repliforce's activities in a facility that simulates cyberspace. I passed the information up to command and they gave the go ahead for you to move out!"_

"A lead huh? Alright, I'll head out right away!" X lowered his hand and broke into a sprint towards the teleporters, thinking along the way that Zero was to thank for finding this information. Boy, if only he knew…

Once on the teleportation device, X was sent off to his next destination. He had heard many tales of cyberspace from Alia when she was still around, but he never once expected to be able to visit it, especially not in regards to a mission. The transfer period between HQ and this facility seemed much longer than usual thanks to the anticipation he was feeling, but soon that time would pass and he would find himself in a place far more sublime than anything he had seen in a long while.

Right as he landed on a rigid metal floor, his mind was assaulted by a mass array of data flowing around him, it all lined up in streams that went left or right, pushing itself into massive walls of information on both sides of the area. Before him lied a corridor just big enough for him to run through, but it took a moment to register such a thing with all that X could see. For a moment, the Hunter was overtaken by a childish curiosity as he waved his hand at some of the data, only for it to pass right through him without doing a thing.

"Wow…" One word was all that was necessary to describe everything that X was feeling. He was still a part of reality, but it wouldn't be hard to believe that he wasn't with what he was bearing witness to.

"Are you seeing any of this Double?" X's inquiry would go unanswered, much to his surprise, and after a couple blinks he laid a hand on his helmet and asked with more worry "Double, are you there?! Respond!"

" _Hahaha! So to think it would be YOU who would have chosen to trespass on my domain, Maverick Hunter X!"_ A suave but sinister voice echoed across the domain, and a moment later a perfectly clear screen flashed into view before X. The Hunter summoned his buster and turned it towards the screen, which portrayed a Reploid with a tall, lithe body, sharp pointed shoulder pads, a fowl-like face, and nine green "peacock feathers" attached to it's back. The Reploid stood in a room filled with fading and reappearing red hexagons that protected a giant, data filled core, and he waved a hand before his chin as though struck with a great intrigue.

"Who are you supposed to be?!" X forcefully inquired, and the robot replied hastily _"Why, I am but the master of this cyberspace domain…Or, to be more accurate to the recent information flow, I am the CURRENT master, after the previous one suffered a…Shall we say, 'untimely' demise?"_

The Reploid raised his brows and wiggled a finger against the side of his beak, as though imitating the twirl of a mustache he did not have. Looking upon X's impatient glare though, the Reploid snapped his fingers and remarked _"Ah, but that's not enough for you is it? You Hunters usually require the names given to us by our 'handlers' as it were…Well, remember my name well, Maverick Hunter X, for I shall succeed where many have failed and truly vex your inferior mind. I am Cyber Peacock, the Commandant of Cyberspace!"_

The Reploid swung his arm out with grandiose declaration, spreading his feathers with a deep and translucent glow. X looked at them and remarked with a firm glare "So you're a Maverick. Why have you hijacked this domain?!" Cyber Peacock sighed and started brushing the front of his chest, remarking in dismay _"Honestly, can one truly be so single-minded? I'm not a Maverick you bipedal brute! I'm merely a…curator of curiosity, if you would."_

"What?" X raised his brows and tilted his head, while the Reploid continued to explain _"And lately I've found my curiosity being itched at by a rather…complex conundrum, to put in simple terms. You see, I've been keeping an eye on a certain flow of data that has come through here lately…Pertaining to you."_

"Huh…? You have to be kidding, why me?"

" _Rumor has it that your potential is unlimited. Now, I find that to be a laughable indictment personally…One can not truly have 'unlimited' anything. Not even that 'Bassnium' or whatever is capable of producing infinite energy. After all, as technology becomes more advanced it requires more energy output, thus-"_

"Wait, you know about 'Bassnium'? So you're a member of Repliforce!"

Cyber Peacock's eyes widened in disgust and he swung his arm below his face while exclaiming _"In league with those…Savages?! You wound my pride you primitive product! No, I simply know my facts because of my position!"_ The Reploid coughed and then calmly explained _"Regardless, news must've spread forthright about my curiosity, as here you are, as though guided by fate itself!"_

"…No, I'm just following a lead my friend gave me about Repliforce's activities." X dully remarked. Cyber Peacock was left in a disbelieving state of mind for a few seconds before he tried to save face with a composed boast of _"A-Aha! It matters not, then that it still the guidance of fate that led you to me! My observances of such affairs tells me so!"_

"So what do you want from me?" X quietly but impatiently inquired. Cyber Peacock grinned and replied _"Why, to test you of course! I have prepared this domain with three obstacle courses suited to test your powers, each one more difficult than the last!"_

"I have no intention of playing your game, Cyber Peacock!" X proclaimed with a serious, growling expression. The Reploid waved a finger before his closed-eyes and remarked _"Tsk, tsk…I expected such behavior from you, and that's why I have prepared an…appropriate motivator, if you would."_

He then swung his left arm out and took a bow as the camera panned towards the sight of Magma Dragoon trapped on a diamond shaped magnetic plate, and he was clearly unable to speak or move. X widened his eyes and declared the Hunter's name, then swung his buster at the screen and demanded to know "What did you do to him?!"

" _I've merely set him up as the bait to lure the fish, if you would. He was caught snooping around here uninvited, but I figured that it would be a waste to destroy him when he would better serve his purpose as…Well, I already gave you the metaphor, even you must know what I'm getting at by now."_

As X grit his teeth in anger, the Reploid told him bluntly _"But if you clear my obstacle courses, then perhaps, just perhaps…I will let him go. After all, by then I shall get the data I need."_

"You won't make use of it for long, because I will destroy you Cyber Peacock!" X declared, to which the Reploid cracked a smile and replied _"Then please, by all means you are welcome to_ _ **TRY**_ _…But lets make this a little more interesting in that case. The obstacle courses have rankings to them…For every S-Rank you fail to grab, I will tear off another part of your comrade's body."_

With a flash of his feathers as X continued to glare at him, Cyber Peacock shut off the screen with a curt _"Good luck…"_ The Hunter then went for his communications again but still got no response.

"Must be interference…Great, guess I'm on my own here…"

X lowered his hand and looked at the chamber ahead. Dashing towards it, he was suddenly frozen in place by a reticule that descended from the ceiling and surrounded him. It stuck to the area around his body and flashed the message "Hurry up!" before his face as the data walls on the path ahead started to flash a wild series of colors.

X was on the run right away, unaware of the walls bulging and sending forth yellow spheres of collected data straight his way. One shot right before his face and gave him but a second to tumble over it, and upon landing he broke into a slide to get under another sphere. However, a wall thrust up before his path and made his legs push inward, halting his movement until he leaned up and kicked his thrusters on to leap towards the wall behind him. Jumping off the wall, X tucked in and dove under an incoming sphere, falling off the top of the first wall and landing in a kneel on the ground. Three more spheres flew his way, this time with X trying to shoot at one of them with his buster.

But the sphere split a hole in it's center and the shots passed through it. With a widening of his eyes, X leapt back onto the wall and let the spheres collide where he once stood before using his boots to rocket off the wall towards a set of hexagon platforms on the other side that stood before some sort of rounded portal. The very moment he landed on the edge of the platforms, his body slid forth until he was underneath some sort of hole in the ceiling just mere feet from the portal.

The reticule rose and shrunk to fit into the hole, and the portal before X rippled to reveal a golden "S" on it. A clap could then be heard in the air before Cyber Peacock remarked to a panting X _"Not bad, not bad…But that was the EASY one. Lets see how you tackle the Medium Course, Maverick Hunter X."_

X leaped into the portal and found himself in a small, more relaxed feeling corridor. The data here was more condensed to resemble buildings, likely meaning that they were archives of a sort. X glanced at them while making his way to the next portal and remarked _"There has to be some info here…But first I have to rescue Magma Dragoon. Hang on, I'm coming!"_

He leaped to the platforms and sprinted straight for the next portal. He could not afford to screw up even once, not with a partner's life on the line. The next area in X's way would be more compact and filled with multiple routes for X to take, each one containing differing amounts of spheres to get around.

Instincts gripped to X's brain like a vice and guided his every move forward, as he ran straight for the bottom row and slid underneath the bobbing spheres. The next set of spheres on the bottom row came forward at a blinding speed, and X's attempt to swing to the left to dodge them almost had him stumbling off into the abyss had he not quickly hopped back and used his glider boots to get back to safety.

He quickly hopped to the middle row and sprinted forward, tightly leaping over a couple more spheres and sliding underneath three more coming from the next section. He slammed his buster against the ground and used a charged shot to launch himself upright so he could immediately leap to the top row and run ahead unimpeded by spheres until one suddenly flew into view near the end.

His body just barely scraped underneath it as he broke into a slide, which in turn had enough momentum to send him hurtling towards the end of this course. As the reticule sunk into the ceiling again, the portal rippled before X and revealed another "S". This time Cyber Peacock sounded a little more taken aback as the Hunter ran into the portal _"I-Incredible…! B-But you haven't seen the true horrors of the ADVANCED COURSE!"_

After another intermission in the form of a tunnel, X was in the last course that the Reploid had set up for him. Now things were going haywire, as the walls were stuck in a state of spasm and spheres were flying every which way. Even worse, portals were opening up and spiked balls were being thrown at him through rifts at random intervals.

Even with chaos unfolding all around him, X was able to process it all at a rate even he was surprised to find himself going at. His body was almost like a puppet moving on it's own as it bobbed and weaved through the obstacles, leaping off walls and slipping through corridors until the end was in plain sight. But there was one last trick up this course's sleeve, as two spheres suddenly spawned to try and pinch X in, but a shot from his boots was enough to propel him to the end of the course.

As the reticule sunk in one final time, Cyber Peacock's exasperation was far greater than before as another "S" appeared on the portal _"A-A-Absolute perfection?! This must be a flaw in the programming…there's no way this can be right!"_

"I'm coming for you next, Cyber Peacock!" X proclaimed as he leapt through the next portal. However, he was quite surprised to not only find himself in yet another corridor, but that on the platforms before the next portal was a Dr. Light capsule. X blinked a couple times and then approached the capsule, which opened up and revealed the doctor's welcoming hologram in his presence.

"Doctor? What's one of your capsule doing all the way in here?" X said, his hands drawn back in shock. The doctor smiled and replied _"I am always looking out for you X, no matter where you go."_

Recovering from his surprise, the Hunter shook his head a couple times and remarked "I don't know if I have time to talk this time around. You see, there's a Maverick in this area whose holding one of our fellow Hunters hostage, and-"

" _Relax, X. I sense no cameras in this area. If you wish to talk, then do not be afraid. He will not be tipped off to my presence."_ A reassuring wave of the hand was enough to quell X's light concerns, and the Hunter nodded his head and then mentioned "Thanks Doctor. It's…honestly really good to see you again."

" _It hasn't been very long since our last talk. Is everything alright X?"_

"No. We're no closer to figuring out what's going on with Repliforce than we were before. Worse of all, they stole a material known as 'Bassnium' and plan to use it for something. I heard that it's capable of producing near infinite amounts of energy."

Light's eyes were frozen in a widened glance the moment the term came up onward, and X noticed that and remarked "I-Is something wrong Doctor?" Light closed his eyes and turned his head aside, murmuring in a gravely voice _"I never thought I would hear that name again…How long has it been…?"_

"…Doctor, do you know what 'Bassnium' is?"

Light looked at X and slowly nodded his head. _"It's an energy source that was invented in my time period by a brilliant scientist. The claims you've heard are true…In the right hands, Bassnium can produce near-infinite amounts of energy. If Repliforce has gotten their hands on something like that, they can only be planning to use it to a fuel a weapon that can cause damage on an apocalyptic magnitude."_

"What?! No! That can't be right! Something like that doesn't even exist in this world!"

" _Do not be so sure about that. The government already hid the existence of 'Bassnium' from the public eye…Who is to say there isn't some other secret they've hidden?"_ The inquiry left X silent, and in turn Light closed his eyes and mentioned _"Focus on your current mission X. Let me search for a link between Bassnium and the weapon data stored in this cyberspace in the meantime."_

"You can do that?" X gasped in shock, and Light cracked a big old smile and mentioned _"For a limited amount of time, certainly. Once you've bested the Maverick here, I shall upload the data I uncover to the new Helmet you shall obtain from this capsule. This same helmet will allow you to use the powers you've obtained without draining energy."_

"Thank you Doctor. It's always nice to have you around." X's appreciation resonated with the hologram and made him give a serene, proud grin before mentioning _"I feel the same way, X. I do enjoy our conversations…"_

The doctor left, allowing X to hop onto the capsule and receive his next upgrade. The helmet he got added a small, orange horned earpiece to each side and some sort of "spine" along the top of the helmet that ended on a red jewel. With a thankful nod to his creator, X hopped off the capsule and ran straight for the portal.

On the other side there was a steel door, the usual indicator to X that he had reached the end of the road. He ran at it and passed through as it slid open, finding himself right in the room that was displayed on the screen when he first arrived. Cyber Peacock was standing on the opposite side of the room, and his body was trembling just a little bit. Magma Dragoon was suspended above him.

X immediately drew his buster towards Cyber Peacock and exclaimed "It's over! Let Magma Dragoon go right now, and come quietly for questioning!" The Maverick simply cracked a beaky grin and swung his right hand up and started laughing at X.

"Hahaha! You're a fool if you think I'll surrender so…straightforwardly to such a pig-headed imbecile such as yourself!" The Maverick laid a hand before his chest and swiped it straight out, remarking crassly "Your performance in my obstacle course was but a farce! Even that dullard Flame Mammoth could've aced that course in his SLEEP!"

He then laid a hand on the side of his head and a scouter swung forth before his right eye. "I will find out your TRUE potential level with this…! And you shall be exposed for the fraud you are, Maverick Hunter X!" Cyber Peacock scanned the stationary Hunter for a few seconds, keeping a haughty grin going as the numbers climbed on his scouter.

"1000.…2000.…3000.…4000.…5000.…Heh, you're nothing more than an average…" The scouter started beeping erratically and the numbers climbed faster than Cyber Peacock could count, his voice getting more shocked and frightened "7000.…9000.…11000...13000...1-1-15000?! Does this thing ever stop?!"

The scouter blew up, forcing the Maverick's eye to close and his head to reel back in a pained grunt. He then glared at X and trembled some more, remarking in a timid tone "H-How could someone like you even exist? WHO CREATED YOU?!"

X cared not about any of the Maverick's analyzing or opinions, he simply started to charge his buster while remarking "I'm giving you one last chance to surrender peacefully, Cyber Peacock!" Cyber Peacock's scowl grinded down to the point that it was any wonder his teeth didn't break.

"To think that being made a fool of would sting so, SO much…But it matters not! If your potential is truly unlimited, then I will simply end you here and now before that power can become an unstoppable threat!"

Upon sensing the Maverick's aggression, X fired his charged shot straight at him. However, Cyber Peacock's frame turned into pure data and he warped into the air away from the shot. Upon emerging he spread his now glowing feathers and levitated in place, waving a hand before his chest and wiggling his fingers towards himself.

"Nothing you've faced thus far compares to the power of a fully-functional cyberspace AI, Maverick Hunter X! Now…I shall delete you and all traces of your existence from this world!" The Maverick swung his hand back and plucked a feather from his back, swinging out three separate feathers from it that he flung right out at X. The Hunter leapt to the right to get between two of the fingers, only for Cyber Peacock to coyly grin and snap his fingers, making them all explode.

X was launched towards the door with some smoke on his body, but the Maverick warped behind him and wrapped his arms around his chest. Hugging him tight, Cyber Peacock released a surge of electricity from his body, assaulting X with a painfully high amount of voltage that left him screaming in pain for a few seconds.

The Hunter grit his teeth though, fought through the pain to the best of his ability, and with his body turning pink and blue he fired a miniature stingray drone at his foe's feet. An explosion there forced Cyber Peacock off of X but made the Hunter stumble forward a little. The Maverick then warped back to his original location and plucked another feather from his back, this time firing just the one straight at X's body.

X switched to a black and yellow color scheme and shot two crescent blades at Cyber Peacock, slicing through his feather, only for the Maverick to swing his body to just narrowly avoid the projectiles. He glanced at the projectiles and then X a couple times before remarking "Your ability to obtain powers from falling Reploids is very, very interesting…I swear, I've heard of such a phenomenon before in the archives…"

Cyber Peacock took a moment to close his eyes in thought, but was not so unaware of his predicament that it left him unable to avoid X's next attack. After warping higher into the air, the Maverick swung his body forward and his feathers erected higher than before. With a rapid flashing glow from them, a reticule appeared around X's body and the feathers fired a series of lasers from their tips.

X had nowhere to run and he quickly slammed his feet to the ground, swinging his arms before his body to tank the lasers head on. Cyber Peacock unleashed three waves worth of lasers, remarking in an almost giddy manner "Your power is nothing! It's just theories…it's just…baseless speculation! My power is true, my power is COMPLETE. Even a thousand years of progress could never compare to the data at my disposal! I am-"

As the smoke settled from the Maverick's assault, his eyes widened as the Hunter stood there with minimal damage to his body and his buster half-charged, while his armor had now taken upon a gold and silver color scheme. X grit his teeth and yelled out "Nothing more than a Maverick!" to finish the words of his flabbergasted foe. He then fired an electric web from his buster that Cyber Peacock warped forward to get away from.

With the Maverick's eyes widened, he was unaware of the web sticking to the air behind him and yelled out mockingly towards X "Ha! Your vision is about as good as a bat's, you ignorant, STUPID-" Boasting should've been the last thing on his mind, as while X slowly and confidently lowered his buster, the web he fired spread out a dozen or so more of them, and a few of them wrapped themselves around Cyber Peacock's body and began electrocuting him wildly.

For all his posturing, he was still but a program, and as such was just as prone to short-circuiting as any other. Even as the webs faded out, his body jerked and jolted in multiple directions while his words went completely incoherent.

"The force of a jackhammer is…equal to the miles per hour of a…following the indictment of governor…the creator of Bassnium is Wi…Mega Man Mega Man Mega Man! Too much data, SOOOOO MUCH DATA…I AM THE SMARTEST THERE IS! I WILL NOT DIE, I MUST MAINTIAN THIS…THIS KNOWLEDGE…!"

Regaining some semblance of control, Cyber Peacock swung his body towards the core as he began to break down. Widening his eyes, he flew straight at the core while X swung his left out and exclaimed "NO! STOP!" But it was too late. The Maverick crashed into the core with all he had, shattering the center and destabilizing the device. The core began to blow up, breaking apart large chunks of the cyberspace domain with every blast.

Cyber Peacock's charred head was flung over in front of X, whose focus was more on Magma Dragoon than the destruction of this area. Thankfully, with the Maverick's defeat the Hunter was dropped from his entrapment, though he looked to be very shaky and barely able to stand. Taking a moment to pick up Cyber Peacock's power from his head, X threw the skull aside and ran straight to his comrade, yelling his name to try and be sure he was still functional.

Magma Dragoon slowly raised his head up and remarked "X…X? What are…you doing here?" X hoisted his comrade up by the shoulders and remarked "I was going to ask you the same thing. How did you get captured?"

Magma Dragoon laid a hand on the side of his head and shook it slowly, remarking "I-I was following a lead…B-But it seems I've lost that chance. That Maverick took the database out with him…" He turned his head towards the exploding core, as the atmosphere heated up and was slowly becoming lethal to stand in.

X quickly laid a hand on his helmet, hoping the communications were working again, but as he managed to get in contact with Double he got a signal of "Data file received" flashing before his eyes. With a terse smile he murmured "Thanks Doctor…" before Double exclaimed into his ear _"X, are you alright?! I lost my signal and now-"_

"I'll tell you when I get back! Magma Dragoon and I need to be brought back to HQ, pronto!"

" _W-What?! Magma Dragoon is there?! …Ho boy, I missed a lot…I'll have you both back right away!"_ And thus, before this cyberspace domain and all it's knowledge was lost to a raging inferno, X and Magma Dragoon were safely whisked away to safety…

 _Next Time: The Traitor_


	8. Chapter 8

X returned to base safe and sound with Magma Dragoon in tow. The very moment they were off the teleport pad, the dragoon Hunter tried to pull himself away from X while remarking "I-I'm alright X. Thanks for carrying me…"

X turned to his ally as he fell onto one knee with all his weight put down upon it. "Magma Dragoon, are you sure? We can take you back to the medical bay…" Magma Dragoon swung his right hand up, giving a remark based entirely off of his own pride "That Maverick's net just drained a bit of my energy…I can recover fine on my own."

He stood upright and crossed his arms against the chest, and with a semi-concerned glance X waved a hand out and asked "Well, alright…But what were you doing in cyberspace in the first place?" The two of them started to walk out of the room as Magma Dragoon explained "I was chasing a lead on information regarding Repliforce."

"You too huh?" X seemed a bit surprised to hear that, followed by Magma Dragoon letting out a sigh and remarking "A shame that Maverick obliterated the archives in that area before we could salvage anything. Now we're back to square one regarding the 'Bassnium' and how it connects to Repliforce's goals."

"Not necessarily. I managed to download something on my helmet regarding a possible lead." X tapped the side of his head a couple times while Magma Dragoon widened his eyes and briefly stammered "I-I see…Just how did you manage that?"

X smiled and turned his head, letting out a brief sigh before remarking "It's a long story, I'll catch you up on the details later, but first I'm going to check up on Zero and then get the data decoded."

Magma Dragoon, with a sudden bit of forcefulness, waved one hand and asked "I could hand the data over to the lab for you X. You've been working non-stop, it's the least I could do for you." X paused close to the door leading to the command center and turned to look his ally in the eyes, noticing he seemed more uneasy than usual.

"Well…I guess you could. Hang on, I should be able to transfer the data onto a chip…" As X laid a hand on the side of his new helmet the doors swung open, Zero walking through them a moment later while remarking "Oh hey, you made it back safe and sound X…" he slowly turned his head towards the other Hunter and remarked puzzled "…And Magma Dragoon?"

Magma Dragoon stared at Zero without saying a word, but his left fingers started to slowly tap atop his folded arms as though he was feeling even more uneasy now. Zero raised his brows then looked at X, who pulled a small data chip free from his helmet while updating his friend on the situation "Thanks for the lead Zero. I managed to pick up this data in the cyberspace domain before it was wiped out."

"Wiped out huh? Let me guess, there was a Maverick waiting for you there." Zero's comment surprised X before he explained himself with a gesture towards Magma Dragoon and a remark of "I mean, that's why Magma Dragoon's with you, right? To hunt a Maverick in that area?"

There was more than a little suspicion in Zero's tone, and Magma Dragoon could sense that as his body tensed up as best as a machine like him could. Looking at the Hunter as he had now become stiffer than a statue, Zero then faced his friend and listened to him explain Magma Dragoon's situation "Actually, he was after a lead on the connection between Repliforce's activities and 'Bassnium' like I was, but he was captured by the Maverick there."

X then turned towards Magma Dragoon and extended the chip out, remarking to him "Here you go. Make sure it gets to the lab-" Zero then forced his hand onto his friend's wrist to pull it back before Magma Dragoon could swipe it from his grasp. As the Hunter's eyes widened in shock his hand froze in place while X looked at both him and Zero in confusion.

"Zero, what are you-"

"X…Besides you and me, Iris is the only other person who knows the name of the material Repliforce made off with." Zero was stern with his friend, and his tone was now fully in suspicion of Magma Dragoon's presence. That very same Hunter took a couple steps back while X slowly faced him and more seriously asked him "Yeah, that's right…How could you possibly know about 'Bassnium'?"

"There's a reasonable explanation for this, but the information's classified." Magma Dragoon's remark screamed of desperation, and Zero immediately swung his right hand out at him while taking an accusing tone "Classified? You don't get to play that card here Magma Dragoon, not when you're the same rank as I am."

Magma Dragoon spread his arms and swung his hands around, a rough patch of green appearing on his palms. He sharply remarked in a peeved tone "This isn't the time to be at each other's throats Zero." Zero then grabbed onto Magma Dragoon's right wrist before he could retract it, remarking in a firm and forceful tone "Then why don't you explain THIS?"

Magma Dragoon didn't even bother trying to force his hand free and instead scowled, all his fangs shown to the two Hunters before him as X questioned his friend "Zero, what's going on?" Zero glanced over his shoulder and replied quickly "We found out at the Biolab that the dragon Mechaniloid that attacked Sky Lagoon had come from there, and whoever activated the machine left a moss-covered print on it."

Zero turned his glare onto Magma Dragoon and remarked "One scan from the scientists down at the lab should connect you to the Biolab, and in turn prove that you're the one responsible for the attack on Sky Lagoon. Got anything to say to that, Magma Dragoon?"

X looked at his fellow Hunter with a disbelieving glare as he asked him "This can't be…Tell us this isn't true, Magma Dragoon."

Magma Dragoon paused for a few seconds and slowly closed his eyes shut. He expressed himself, not in anger or disbelief, but rather with a deep regret towards his comrades "X…Zero…Forgive me."

Then his behavior turned violent as he took advantage of Zero's grasp to wrench him off the ground and spin him around until he was slammed against the wall behind. This freed Magma Dragoon from his grasp and then immediately sprinted away from the command center while Zero dropped to the ground and rubbed the side of his head.

X ran at his friend and kneeled before him, and Zero lifted his head while keeping a cool expression as he said "Go after him X! I'll take care of the data." X nodded and flicked the data chip to Zero's open hands before standing up and running after Magma Dragoon, who was making a sharp swerve towards the teleporter room while pushing a random Hunter aside.

As X turned to follow him into the room, he found Magma Dragoon leaping onto one of the machines after tapping a set of keys hidden under his left gauntlet. He's whisked away to another location, leaving X to quickly lay a hand on his helmet and remark "Double, Magma Dragoon's gone Maverick! I need you to pinpoint his current destination!"

" _H-He's gone Maverick?! Oh no, that's horrible! A-Alright…Let me see what I can find."_ Double quickly got to work on figuring out where he went, and the teleporter activated in front of X about ten seconds later.

" _He went to one of the Volcanic Bases. Be careful X, it's very hot in there!"_ With his obvious advice out of the way, X leapt onto the platform and readied his buster. As his sent away, his mind was wracked with confusion as to why Magma Dragoon had turned Maverick…

 **Chapter 8: The Traitor in Turmoil, Magma Dragoon**

X landed in the middle of a scorching hot underground cavern. The walls and floor were dry and brown, and the heat was so overbearing that what little machines functioned in here spat out steam at regular intervals. Were it not for X's in-built cooling system, he'd have been fried the very moment he stepped down in this place.

As such, even communications were difficult to maintain, as Double's voice came through in a very scrambled manner _"Bzzzt…X…X…Do-…watch out for….lava…!"_

X communicated to him in concern "Try and adjust the relay Double. Maximize the output if you have to. Otherwise, just conserve power and wait for me to contact you."

" _But…!"_

"That's an order Double. The situation's too critical for us to afford any mistakes. X, out…!" He shut off communications on his own and looked at the scorching landscapes ahead. Even with protection, his body could've sweated had it been given the capability of doing so.

Lava spewed from parts of the ground in arcs, fireballs were flung forth from the bed of magma down below, and balls of flaming rocks rolled down some of the hills. It was the very reflection of Hell itself down here, and somewhere beyond all these environmental obstacles was Magma Dragoon.

Laying a hand on his buster, X remarked "Magma Dragoon…why did you betray us?" quietly and then began his advance through the volcano. He ran down the first hill and leaped over a few heavily armored spike balls that rolled straight at him, breaking into a slide once he landed until he was at the very bottom of the hill.

He then hopped over a gap over magma, his body tense due to the consequences just one simple failure will cost him. But though his body was tense, his mind remained as sharp as usual towards the obstacles in his path. He kept moving onward until he had arrived at a large stony metallic door, which he blasted right open with a charged shot.

Moving deeper into the caverns, X realized there were no enemy drones in this area. Clearly, Magma Dragoon had not planned to retreat to this location beforehand and did not have time to call for back-up. At least that left only the environment to worry about.

Eventually though, X was stopped when Double called into his ears _"X-…! capsule…one above…!"_ The signal was still choppy, but X discerned the important information from it and looked up. There was a ledge that X could JUST reach with the help of his hover boots, and so he did so only to find a giant stone wall standing in his way.

However, it was the type of wall made entirely out of collapsed rock, and thus with one charged shot X made the whole thing collapse before him. Behind it was another Dr. Light capsule, which was perfectly intact even in these harsh environments. X approached the capsule and it activated, with Dr. Light's hologram perfectly projected into view.

" _So…you have come here as well, X."_ He remarked with his usual kindness. X looked at him and said in a surprised tone "It hasn't even been half an hour Doctor…" Shaking his head a couple times to remove the confusion he had of his appearance, X then addressed the doctor "Never mind, I wanted to thank you for getting that information for me."

" _It was very secured…I am lucky to have found something before the whole place went kablooey."_

"…Kablooey?" X wasn't used to such goofy use of words from the doctor, and Light himself cracked a smile and replied _"Heh, forgive me. I must be feeling a little elated to have directly helped you out, X."_

"…" X closed his eyes with a melancholic look on his face, and Dr. Light returned to his more wise and calm demeanor as he inquired _"Did you manage to rescue your ally?"_

"I…I don't know. It seems Magma Dragoon was responsible for the attack on Sky Lagoon."

"… _So he was a Maverick all along then…Isn't that a good thing for you though, X? After all, that means Repliforce was indeed framed for the attack."_

X widened his eyes and shook his head a couple times, telling Light with some hesitation "O-Of course it's good, but…I just don't understand WHY he did this."

"… _Does it matter?"_ Light was surprisingly blunt, remarking in turn _"His actions have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands. His reasons don't matter anymore. He is a Maverick, you have to stop him before he can hurt any one else."_

"…Yeah, I guess you're right, but…I still want to hear him out. Even if he's gone Maverick, I have to know why he did it." X commented, to which Light closed his eyes and let out a sigh, admitting while he scratched the side of his head _"I suppose you have that right, X. Now then, take this armor upgrade inside of this capsule. It contains the Body Parts, which will upgrade your exterior defenses."_

The hologram left so X could get onto the capsule and accept the new upgrade. After an influx of data poured over him, X received a white and blue chest plate with rounded, arched shoulder plates that had a single red triangle on each to help with fluidity in movement. The armor was starting to look complete, all that was missing now was the buster parts.

As X got off the platform, Dr. Light's hologram appeared for just a little bit longer to advise X _"Do whatever you must X, but please do be careful not to fall for Magma Dragoon's trickery."_ X turned around and remarked "Don't worry Doctor, I won't. And thank you." The doctor gave one more smile before the capsule shut down.

X then got off the ledge and continued onward through the rest of the volcanic base. The lava plumes got more violent, but with so much caution on his mind none of them could even come close to scratching them. After hopping over a series of singular stones, X ended up climbing up to a steel sliding door and went through it, ending up in a cooled down hallway.

" _He has to be in here…"_ X focused calmly on the next door ahead, slowly approaching it so he could get a chance to observe what lied beyond. Inside was nothing more than a secluded cavern pocket with a single stone platform that was just as big as a standard wrestling mat, the whole thing surrounded by boiling magma. At the very edge of the platform Magma Dragoon stood still with his back turned and arms at his sides.

X hopped down to the platform and aimed his buster at his former comrade's back. Magma Dragoon opened his eyes, broken from a serenity he had forcibly left himself encumbered with. "So, you've finally arrived…" he said as he turned around, swinging a hand down before his waist while taking upon the stance of a true, disciplined warrior "X…"

X gripped the buster tightly and promptly asked "Why…Why did you do it Magma Dragoon?!" The former Hunter had but one response.

"Regret."

"What…?" X steadied his buster and gave him a firm glare as he lowered his head. His expression was melancholic, as solemn and lonesome as the desert wilds.

"Let me regale you with a tale from my past, X…If you would be willing to hear a criminal out."

X kept his buster up and hesitantly remarked "Don't try anything funny…" Magma Dragoon shook his head a little and stated "I won't…hopefully."

" _Years ago, I worked in a Hunter Base in the Asian region alongside a flight-class Hunter known as Blaze Heatnix. He was a Reploid created to tackle disasters related to volcanic activity. However, he was so powerful that he looked down upon all other Reploids…Save for me."_

" _For some reason, he saw me as the only one worth talking to in that entire base. He was never one to have long conversations, but he didn't show the same disdain towards me as he did everyone else."_

" _We worked hard for our Base. I ended up covering for his recklessness when it came to the safety of our co-workers, but it could not be denied that Blaze was very efficient at what he did…He was a Hunter who could live up to his boasts."_

"… _That as, until one day, when the two of us were assigned to check disruptions in the fault line. Our discoveries led us to an underground Maverick operation where they planned to set off explosions to disrupt the fault lines and set off all the volcanoes in the area. Blaze and I dismantled all the bombs and tried to take down the base as best we could, but we were too late to stop one bomb…"_

" _When that bomb went off, the two of us were close by. However, for the first time in his life, Blaze pushed me out of the way and took the brunt of the explosion, perishing in the ensuing cave collapse."_

"…I should've died that day X." Magma Dragoon ended his story with a tone drenched in guilt before opening his eyes and looking the Hunter straight on.

"Ever since that day, I've tried to take on harder and harder missions, all in the hopes that someday I could correct that mistake. But I could not find someone who could give me the death I wanted…No one was strong enough."

He then swung his right hand up at X and remarked "That's when I thought of you and Zero…You are the two strongest Hunters, not just in our base, but perhaps in the entire world. My plan was supposed to be simple…Commit a simple enough crime to be labeled a Maverick, then hope that either one of you would come after and destroy me."

"Then why the Sky Lagoon…? Thousands died…Not just humans, but Replopids too!" X exclaimed in a fluster of rage. Magma Dragoon curled his hand into a fist and rested it before his waist, remarking in a tone of deep regret "…I never would've wanted that. I swear to you, that was never my intention…"

"…But somewhere along the line, my body must have been infected with the Sigma Virus. I started to hear a voice in my head telling me to resist against my human creators, to rebel in the name of all Mavericks. I tried my hardest to ignore the whispers, to continue life the way I wanted it…"

Magma Dragoon closed his eyes again and cracked a pained scowl before remarking "It did me no good…The will of the virus is much stronger than my own discipline, and it possessed me to destroy the core of Sky Lagoon. Then, it commanded me to go to the cyberspace domain to destroy the database before you or Zero could discover what was inside."

"…Wait, you had no hand in activating the dragon Mechaniloid?" X was greatly confused by the lack of information provided to him on that matter, but Magma Dragoon would soon provide a crucial fact as honestly as he could "No, I had no hand in that. At least…I'm sure I didn't. But I do recall going to the Biolab at some point to try and find information on the Mechaniloid…"

Magma Dragoon rubbed the side of his head, with X lowering his buster a little and remarking "Then…someone else is responsible?" The former Hunter responded with his own input "I do believe with all my heart that someone has framed Repliforce for their crimes, but that is not what matters now X…These hands of mine, whether through my own will or not, have taken the lives of so many…That is more than enough to qualify me to be a Maverick, right?"

"Magma Dragoon, hang on…! If you're infected, we can-"

"Don't." Magma Dragoon held his hand up and shook his head slowly telling X rather bluntly "My mind is plagued not only with guilt, but also with that accursed virus. Please X, just do the right thing…And end my life, here and now!"

X clenched his buster tightly and grit his teeth just as hard, then swung his weapon up before exclaiming "Fine, I will! Magma Dragoon…You've been labeled a Maverick…You shall be destroyed!" His words were forced but his focus was firm, and that all made Magma Dragoon cracked a smile before remarking "…Thank you X…"

His eyes then flared open while spirals of flames rose around his flashing body. The ferocity of a warrior had be awakened within him, and he roared out with all his might while swinging his cupped hand at his side "But…HOLD NOTHING BACK! HADOKEN!"

He flung his hands forward and a large fireball fired forth from the palms. X widened his eyes and met the attack with a charged shot, canceling the two projectiles out. Magma Dragoon then launched himself forward with claw swung up ready to strike with all he had. Even with a desire to die, he would not go down without putting everything he had into battle. He was a warrior filled with regret…and a pride hotter than the sun!

X grit his teeth and leaped back to dodge the strike as it pierced the ground with ease. However, Magma Dragoon did not end off there as he dug his claws into the stone and dragged his feet forward, swinging his other fist up with so much might the very air bent around it and ignited into flames.

"SHORYUKEN!" He exclaimed with the energy of an active volcano as he rose up and dug his fist into X's chin, bending the metal inward for just a little bit before leaping high into the air and performing a quick spin, sending the Hunter back with a powerful shockwave.

X landed on the edge of the platform and immediately rubbed the sore spot under his chin with the back of his hand, thinking in a surprised tone _"If it wasn't for the armor upgrade…That could've hurt a lot more. It's true what they've said…"_ Magma Dragoon then landed on the ground and reared his head back, charging flames in his mouth.

" _Magma Dragoon's one of the strongest Hunters there ever was…!"_

X swung both his arms out, turning them into busters while facing his foe's flamethrower attack straight on. Swinging one arm after the other, X fired a pair of Ground Hunters straight at the front of the flames. The explosions from them held off the flames long enough for X to leap up and use his hover to stay above it.

He switched to a yellow and black color scheme and fired a few Twin Slashers at Magma Dragoon, dealing some light cuts to his body until he clamped his mouth shut and hopped back to the other side of the platform. He then curled his hands back and fired another Hadoken at X the very moment his hover boots gave out.

When X's feet landed he swung his arms forward to block most of the damage from the fireball, but Magma Dragoon came right at him with a dropping mid-air kick. Forced to leap back, X took a few embers to the face from his foe's explosive landing and his vision briefly flared up in pain. Magma Dragoon then wrenched his claws forward, digging into X's chest plate just enough to be able to throw him over his head and slam him against the ground.

The platform cracked from X's impact, but the armor offered enough protection to allow him to quickly raise his buster and unleash a charged shot into Magma Dragoon's face. The impact jerked his head back and forced his grip off of X's body, and he quickly placed his feet down while pointing his buster upward to fire another Twin Slasher at his face.

Magma Dragoon swung his head to the left and the crescent blade cut off one of the horns behind his eye. He then plucked that horn from the air and flung it straight at X's forehead like a dart, where it lodged itself deep into it and made the Hunter recoil back in pain. "Ghh…GHH!" X groaned as sparks flew forth around the wound, and his body stumbled back.

In the mean time, Magma Dragoon folded his arms back ready to launch another Hadoken. It was only with split second timing that X was able to pull the horn free with one hand while swinging his buster forward to fire a Frost Tower directly in front of him. It intercepted the fireball, but Magma Dragoon just launched another one that melted the tower a little more and put some cracks into it.

X started to take a couple steps back while swinging his right buster at the hip, charging it up as Magma Dragoon swung his hands back and began charging an even stronger fireball in them. "SHIN…HADOKEN!" The ground shook as his power charged, causing a couple eruptions from the lava around the platform. The disruptions subsided as he launched a pulsating bright fireball that shattered the Frost Tower with ease, allowing him to lunge straight at X through the icy steam left behind.

A bright light shone through the frost while a familiar whir of energy got louder and louder the closer Magma Dragoon got. The frost blew aside the moment X fired off his charged shot into his opponent's chest. The proud former Hunter dug his toes into the ground and swung his arms out as his body was forced back to the edge of the platform. When the charged shot exploded, it took off a good chunk of his armor.

"Heh…You've put up a good fight so far, X!" Magma Dragoon was overjoyed and full of praise for his foe. His body then lit up like the lava surrounding him as he swung his arms out and exclaimed "But now…TAKE THIS! FIRE STORM!"

The cavern trembled as dozens of fireballs came raining down from the sky above Magma Dragoon, each one containing the equivalent force of a single Hadoken. As such, every time one struck the ground a hole was burrowed into it, quickly taking away the space of which X could fight upon. He tried to stand his ground in the center of the platform to fire a charged shot at Magma Dragoon, but the fireballs intercepted his attack.

He carefully hopped back a couple times and then swung his buster out, preparing another charged and waiting for the right moment to fire it. The fire storm ended and Magma Dragoon ran straight at X, gliding right over the pits in his way as he went in for another Shoryuken. This time however, X swung his left hand down and grabbed onto Magma Dragoon's fist with all his might, holding the former Hunter's impressive strength back and causing a shockwave to rip through their arena.

As pebbles and bits of lava flew into the air, X and Magma Dragoon locked eyes for the final time as equals, giving each other a respectful glare instead of one made of pure hatred. Magma Dragoon swung his other claw down towards X's helmet, making one last attempt to strike a fatal blow. But X was much faster, and his fully charged buster crossed under his arm and slammed into the center of the Hunter's chest.

With one thought while his teeth grit in pain, X fired the charged shot, and with one resounding "CRACK!" Magma Dragoon's lower body was separated from the rest of his body. The energy then dug through the remains of the platform and buried itself in the lava, setting off a plume that cast a grim shadow over Magma Dragoon's remains as he was let go and dropped onto the ground.

The lava splashed down across the platform and touched part of the fallen Hunter's head, burning it right off. Electricity spun forth from his waist and he barely had the energy to raise his right hand up. With a shaky grasp, Magma Dragoon grinned and gave X a thumbs-up, telling him honestly "You're…pretty good…"

X felt no joy from any of this. How could he? Magma Dragoon was simply another victim of this horrible battle against the Mavericks. Bending down, X clasped that extended claw in both hands and exclaimed "This shouldn't have had to happen! You were one of the best there was!"

"A-And yet you defeated me…That means you're better, X…"

Magma Dragoon poked X's chest with his other hand before remarking "Please…don't mourn for me. I deserve to go down in history as a criminal…While you must return to base as a hero for stopping me."

X lowered his head and sniffled a little bit, and it was only through the motivating words of Magma Dragoon that he'd be able to raise his head "You're the Reploid the world needs X…Not just as it's protector, but as it's listener as well…Honestly, I wanted a duel with Zero too, but…I doubt he would have listened to me like you did."

X let go of his hand and both of them dropped to his sides. His eyes started to shut, and he murmured weakly "…Thank you…Now I can safely die…with these regrets…Blaze…I'm…coming…."

And just like that, he shut down entirely.

X stayed there for a moment and bitterly grit his teeth, punching one fist against the ground beside his legs. He dug up part of the ground and crunched it in his grasp as he got up to his feet and looked down at Magma Dragoon one last time. He laid the crumbled rock atop his chest while saying "It's the best burial I can give…Magma Dragoon."

With a salute to his fallen comrade, X glided his hand towards the side of his helmet and said in a melancholy tone "…Double, bring me back to base…The traitor, Magma Dragoon, has been dealt with…" A few seconds later, he was taken away from the volcano, leaving the corpse of his friend to eventually fall into the lava once the platform decayed…

 _Next Time: The Ultimate Rebellion_


	9. Chapter 9

X returned to base, his heart weighing heavier than the rest of his body. Now another ally of the Maverick Hunters had fallen, a victim of the accursed Sigma Virus. It was bad enough that he had to hunt down Repliforce's captains because they had been framed, but now that the truth had come to light via Magma Dragoon's confession that meant this whole fight was even more pointless than ever before.

" _No, I had no hand in that. At least…I'm sure I didn't. But I do recall going to the Biolab at some point to try and find information on the Mechaniloid…"_

Recollecting some of the proud Hunter's final words, X slowly walked out of the transporter room and looked at the ground. His brows rustled in contemplation, and his mind thought of what Magma Dragoon meant.

" _If he didn't do it, who did? Who could possibly benefit from manipulating Repliforce into starting a coup?"_

Trying to connect the facts he had gathered so far, X thought about the mysterious 'Bassnium' that Repliforce had acquired. "Oh yeah, I gave Zero the data chip. Maybe he might've uncovered something." Hopes high for his friend to pull through, X ran straight to the right and flung himself through the opening doors to the command center.

"Zero!" He called out his friend's name with a great deal of energy. "X, over here." The fellow Hunter replied a lot more calmly from the right side of the room. X turned over and Zero swung his hand over to him and Iris, who was slowly tapping away at the computer.

The two friends gathered behind the chair she sat in and looked towards the screen, with Zero explaining "You got back just in time. Iris' almost finished decoding the data chip." X laid a hand on the back of the chair and leaned over, noticing windows opening and closing every which way as progress bars fill up with file names speeding by at blinding speeds.

"Hey, you're doing a pretty good job Iris."

"Thanks X, but the code's pretty simple for this honestly. So, how did it go with Magma Dragoon?" Iris was a bit hesitant to ask. X paused and looked around for a little, then laid a hand on Zero's back and leaned him in so only the three of them could listen to what he had to say.

"I heard from him that Repliforce wasn't the one responsible for summoning the dragon Mechaniloid to Sky Lagoon."

Iris widened her eyes and spun her chair around to face X, nearly throwing Zero off his balance in the process. "So my brother is innocent?!" She barely contained her excitement at the news, forcing X to hold a hand out and whisper "Stay quiet for now Iris, there's more to it than that."

As X looked around to see a few of the navigators staring at him, Zero laid his hand along the top of the chair and whispered "Then that means Magma Dragoon was responsible after all." X would leave his friend confused by shaking his head right after.

"No, he wasn't the one. He told me that he had been infected by the Sigma Virus and it made him destroy the core of Sky Lagoon and try to take out the cyberspace database."

"You seriously believe him X? Sounds to me like he was just trying to throw you off in his last moments."

X shook his head and murmured "No, it doesn't make any sense. Someone else has to be responsible. And…I hate to consider this, but what if there's another traitor we've missed somewhere in this base?"

The idea left Iris gasping in shock while Zero widened his eyes and asked "No way. Another? But who could possibly be one? Every new recruit we've had recently has been scanned for the Sigma Virus."

"Remember when you fought Slash Beast? Iris told me that before he was taken out by the Shadow Corps, he was about to reveal who had manipulated him and Web Spider to take the both of us out."

"You're saying he might be the one responsible? But we didn't even get one letter out of Slash Beast…We could try and replay the recording, but I doubt we'd find anything there."

The two paused for a moment and hummed in thought, before Zero swung his right arm out and gave a snap of the fingers, suggesting calmly "Hey, you thinking what I'm thinking?" X nodded once and said "Yeah, I am. Now that we have all this information, perhaps we could try finding and talking to Colonel about it. He might be willing to listen, and hopefully-"

"AAAH!" A pale gasp from Iris shook the chair whole, and Zero turned his head at her while remarking "Iris, what's the matter?!" He didn't have to wait for her to speak, for the computer screen said it all. Flashing into view was the wireframe build of a massive space station that was labeled "CLASSIFIED GOVERNMENT FILE 00X4 - FINAL WEAPON."

"What the hell?!" Zero was outraged, not just from the name alone, but the information that came along with it. Angrily, he read it out to X and Iris, the latter laying her hands against her face while frozen in pure shock.

"The Final Weapon is a high powered satellite base floating over the planet. It's sole purpose is to act as an Anti-Maverick/Anti-Terrorist weapon. We have found that the only way to power this weapon is to use the fuel known as 'Bassnium', but just one crate alone gives us enough power to either wipe out ten separate countries, or an entire continent?! This is ridiculous! Who in their right mind would authorize this?!"

With eyes held in a state of fear, X looked at his friend and gestured a hand out, getting down to the more pressing matter "Forget about that Zero! This means Repliforce's endgame is to take over the Final Weapon!" Iris sluggishly shook her head and murmured "N-No…b-brother would never use something this…this horrible!"

"He'll never get the chance to! We need to find him now X, and knock some sense into both him AND General!" Zero exclaimed while swinging his hand out and stepping away from the chair. But with just one step down the sirens flared up across the entire Maverick Hunter HQ.

" _ATTENTION ALL HUNTERS. ATTENTION ALL HUNTERS! REPLIFORCE'S FLEETS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED FLYING OVER CYBER PORT AIRSPACE! ALL AVAILABLE HUNTERS, YOU ARE TO ASSEMBLE FOR BATTLE IMMEDIATELY."_

Upon hearing that news, X murmured "Wait, but Cyber Port is…" and ran straight for the windows on the other side of the room. Looking out into the night sky, he saw signal lights swinging left and right to make the massive fleet of battleships more visible. The fleet eclipsed the city in shadows with how many there were both big and small, but none of them were intent on aiming their sights on attacking the ground below by the looks of things.

X widened his eyes even still, realizing that this is why they had been inactive for a while now. His thoughts were soon disrupted by Signas yelling out his and Zero's name from the monitor in the center of the room. He spun around and saw half his body projected as a hologram, then ran closer to better communicate amongst the blaring sirens.

" _X, there's little time. We've just received word that Repliforce plans to take most of their forces into space. The fleet is being commanded by one of their last captains, a veteran by the name of Storm Owl. You are to teleport on board their fleet and take him out to send their forces into disarray."_

"R-Roger! And what about Zero, sir?" X inquired with a powerful salute. Signas turned to the red Hunter and found himself hesitating upon the sight of Iris beside him. With a sigh, he remarked _"Zero, Colonel has been found launching a one man assault on the Cyber Port. It appears he plans to take a shuttle separate from the rest of Repliforce. The order has been given…you are to destroy him."_

Iris' eyes went blank, devoid of any and all hope as of that moment. If such a feeling of emptiness could possibly get worse, than it was only through Zero nodding his head and obeying those orders on the spot. Signas swung his arm out and stated _"Very well. Dismissed!"_

When his hologram was gone, X made a dash for the door while yelling to Double stationed nearby "Double, lock onto one of the battleships and prepare to send me in!"

"Y-Yes sir! I'll find you the closest one I can!"

Zero began to move for the door when Iris grabbed him with both her arms and tugged as hard as she could, tearfully exclaiming to him "Zero, stop! You can't fight my brother!" He faced her with gritted teeth and yelled "This isn't the time for this Iris! Colonel's gone way too far now!"

"H-He would never do something like this! Please, you have to try talking to him!" Iris' voice was torn apart trying to plead to Zero. For as focused on his missions as he usually was, Zero found himself hesitating to go through with his orders at the behest of Iris. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, he grumbled "F-Fine…"

Releasing some of the tension in his struggle to pull away from Iris, Zero told her calmly "I'll give him one more chance to explain himself. But you have to promise me that you'll go hide somewhere until everything blows over. Ok Iris?"

"A-Alright…" She replied meekly, letting go so Zero could head off on his mission. The red Hunter sighed, still feeling a weight in his chest he could not describe. Was it guilt? Was it fear? Such things just seemed unknown to him. Regardless of what he felt, him and X were in for the fight of their lives now…

 **Chapter 9: The Wings of War, Storm Owl**

X found himself warped straight atop one of the more average sized battleships in this massive fleet. The ship shook a little back and forth as it slowly rose further away from the surface towards the starry night sky. Some airships were coming in from the Maverick Hunter HQ to tackle the armada, and the stars were soon replaced by the volley of lasers and missiles from both sides.

X braced himself with his magnetic boots and adjusted to the ever increasing air pressure as he observed what was up ahead. Far beyond most of the armada lied a giant crimson fortress with wide metallic feathered wings and a cockpit shaped to look like an owl's face, complete with large, rounded windows.

Putting on his battle face, X sprinted across the top of the battleship he was on while the turrets on the sides pointed upward and started firing straight at him. The number of turrets was numerous enough that wasting time on them would've led to him being blown off the ships. There was no time for errors, but part of him did wish he could take down some of the turrets to relieve the stress from his allies.

Reaching the tail end of the battleship he was on, X was stopped cold in his tracks by the steel of a couple gun barrels pressing against his back. Charging his buster, he swung around and slammed the barrel into the turret, obliterating it in a single attack. He then leapt atop the gritty remains and watched as a pair of small green and blue ships descended between him and the next battleship.

" _So! It was YOU they sent to face ME, the Grand Cardinal of the Repliforce Air Fleet itself! Well, a flightless featherweight such as yourself shall not run fowl upon my ships, X! All available units, target our feisty foe and send him flying!"_

A wise, respectable squawk reverberated across the chaotic skies from the owl-like vessel, and upon hearing his orders the two small battleships released a volley of gatling bullets from their miniature guns towards X. The Hunter leapt back and drew upon Magma Dragoon's power, turning his armor red and white, before aiming upward and firing a rising comet of heat straight through one of those ships as they flew overhead.

The ship was melted through halfway and both sides crashed down onto the battleship, barreling their way through the turrets before exploding a good fifty feet away from X. This opened up the way for some of his comrades to start firing at the battleship's weak points. As the whole battleship was rocked by the internal blasts, X leaped straight at the second small ship and landed atop it as it passed underneath, using it to vault straight over the next battleship.

The little ship spun around, but X answered it's attempt to fire upon him by turning upside-down and using a Frost Tower for cover. The bullets pushed the icicle against him and helped ensure he'd land on the next battleship. Landing on the back of his head didn't make his recovery swift, but he was at least up before his protection was broken through. He then swung his buster up and fired an Electro Web to snare it up.

As the ship malfunctioned and crashed atop the battleship, X turned around and leapt over the burning wreckage, only for a pair of Reploids riding winged Ride Armors straight at him. The foremost one charged straight at him with buster swung for a close-range blast, but with quick thinking X thrust his feet up and fired off his jets into the Reploids' face to knock him free from the cockpit.

Pushed back in the air, X was able to fall right into the Ride Armor with his back slamming against the thruster controllers. The boosters fired off on the Ride Armor and sent it hurtling towards the edge of the battleship, forcing X to quickly turn around and take reign of the controls before he flew off. He managed to spin the Ride Armor around and dig the front toes into the ship, rending fissures into it as he struggled to halt the machine.

It was only upon spreading the armor's aerodynamic wings that he was able to come to a complete stop, where he then used the armor's buster to fire a clean shot through the center of his second pursuer. As the burning halves flew his way, X leaned the Ride Armor forward and charged underneath them, tearing his way across the battleship while Storm Owl issued orders to his crew.

" _He's just ONE HUNTER! Are all of you as blind as bats?! TAKE HIM DOWN ALREADY!"_

Upon hearing those orders, one of the larger battleships descended towards X's location and opened their underbelly to reveal a massive laser cannon. Without concern for their allies, the laser blasted the battleship, rending it in two and leaving it incredibly unstable. The back half X was on started slanting, with his Ride Armor sliding back at a rapid pace.

" _They'd even target their own just to get to me?! I have to get to the captain of this fleet before he takes out anymore!"_

He sent the thrusters into overdrive and rocketed straight off the falling battleship as it started to crash into the city. As the wreckage burst into a towering plume of flames behind him, X grit his teeth and gripped down on the controls so tight that they began to crumple. He flew straight towards Storm Owl's ship, with the battleship aiming their sights at him, even if it meant hitting each other in the process.

X was agile in his evasion of each and every laser, but he felt pressured even so. His fellow Hunters were firing upon the battleships, yet their ships were also being shot down. The city was slowly being bathed in a crimson hue, and inferno of wreckage raging between the buildings. This far up X could not hear the populace's screams, but they were easy and painful to imagine.

The battleship was worlds away, and the battle only continued to escalate. X grabbed onto the communicator with his right hand while keeping the Ride Armor steady with the other, exclaiming into it "Stop this now Storm Owl! You're throwing your men's lives away!"

He received a curt reply through the fortress' booming intercom _"Throw their lives away?! We are all united in this grand cause of ours! And those who live for the cause…DIE FOR THE CAUSE. A Maverick Hunter should know that beyond all else!"_

"What you're doing is insane! You can't just take control of something as dangerous as the Final Weapon an expect things to get better!"

" _Presumptions, presumptions…I think you'll find that the threat of annihilation can be quite persuasive. After all, it is what has dictated our path this day! And if you wish to stand in the way of our victory march, well…"_ A battleship flew down in front of X's path, lasers fully charged with no time for him to fly away. Coldly, Storm Owl finished _"Then you can perish like the rest…"_

X slammed the communicator down and wrenched the controls back to brake, gritting his teeth as a crimson light flooded his eyes. The very millisecond before it could consume his body whole, however, a volley of lasers came forth from the right and pierced through the battleship. A series of chain reactions went off, sending the ship plummeting towards the ground.

Wide-eyed in disbelief, X looked to the right and found another large battleship in the distance. This one was pure white and had the features of a unicorn on it. In a moment, Storm Owl would address X's mysterious savior with disbelieving ire _"What is the MEANING of this, Lieutenant Skiver?!"_

A firm but kindly voice responded over the other ship's intercom _"With all due respect 'sir', this HAS gotten far out of hand. So as of this moment, my crew and I shall be taking a permanent leave of absence from your fleet."_

" _This is TREASON you ungrateful upstart!"_

" _Treason?! Look AROUND you Captain! The only treason committed here on this day is towards the people we're supposed to be protecting! This is not what Repliforce was built for, and this is not what ANY of us signed up for!"_

" _Fine…You wish to know the glory of a hero?! Then perish in a blaze of fire like those before you! All units…aim your turrets at that traitor and blow him out of the sky!"_

" _S-Sir…we can't…"_

" _What?! What do you mean you CAN'T?!"_

" _B-Because X has infiltrated our ship and he's destroying all of our major energy relays, s-s-sir!"_

"… _WHAT?! B-But…when?! HOW?!"_

With a Ride Armor crashed behind him, X ran through the halls of Storm Owl's ship while throwing Ground Hunters at whatever power stations he could find, leaving a trail of explosions in his wake. Smiling as best he could, he looked out the window towards the battleship that saved him and breathed a sigh of relief "Thank you…Skiver."

X moved on ahead and was stalled by a large steel door slamming before his path. He swung his buster up and charged it as much as he could before firing, blowing up the door entirely. A glint of red light flashed behind the smoke remaining, and X had to quickly throw himself to the left before he has blasted by a laser from a small drone.

Once breaking into a roll, he spun his body around and fired a charged shot at the drone to destroy it. Then he got up and ran, with Storm Owl taunting him along the way _"Hahaha! You'll never make it through my ship's defenses!"_

He was pulling out all the stops, as more drones dropped from the ceiling and set their sights on X's path with their lasers. The hallway got narrower and X would have to traverse poles over a bed of spikes to get past the drones. He kept his buster held out as he leapt between poles, using a rapid-fire assault to deal with each drone along the way. Storm Owl's battleship started shaking from outside fire, and he commented on that matter angrily _"Grrr…! How is this even happening?! Our fleet is supposed to be invincible!"_

Bypassing the defenses set before him, X lands on solid ground and finds a sliding steel door ahead of him. However, standing between him and that was another Dr. Light capsule. Widening his eyes in surprise as the capsule opened, X stared into the stern eyes of the doctor's hologram as he hastily said _"There's little time X! You need to take this Buster upgrade to complete your Fourth Armor."_

"Doctor, did you-"

" _Yes X, I teleported this capsule onto this ship. I wish you would've been able to stop Repliforce before they went for the Final Weapon…"_

"I'm sorry…" X said with his head hung low. Dr. Light shook his head and told him _"Don't be. We couldn't possibly have predicted they were this prepared. Now, you must do everything you can to prevent them from activating the Final Weapon."_

The hologram faded to push X towards hurrying up, and he quickly hopped onto the capsule to receive the final upgrade. Coming out of the data flow, X's buster changed immensely. He had two rectangular vents stacked atop a circular red energy amplifier near the front. Dr. Light appeared again to mention what it could do _"This buster will allow you to either charge and store four concentrated energy blasts, or fire one large one that is capable of melting through even tougher defenses than before."_

X turned around, and Dr. Light closed his eyes before telling him proudly _"I know you can do it X, but even so…Please be careful."_ His hologram vanished, and with a bright flash the capsule disappeared. X nodded his head and with a determined glare he ran through the nearby doors and found himself face to face with a glowing red core stuck to a wall. A couple drones dropped down, but X slowly pulled his buster back and prepared a massive charged shot.

" _Hmph, I don't know what you did to our camera feed, but your journey ends here X! No one, NO ONE, can defeat our Absolute Defense Core Epsi-"_

"HRAAAAAH!" X roared and swung his buster forward with all he had. Power was unleashed on a scale he had never felt before in the form of a charged shot bigger than his body. It rammed into the core and grinded against it, devouring it up in a destructive vacuum that also dragged in most of the wall surrounding it.

When the energy collapsed into a burst it took out the rest of the wall along with it, allowing X to leap through. Storm Owl could be heard pounding the walls as he angrily yelled _"You must be kidding me?! What is your MAJOR MALFUNCTION men?! Forget it, I'll take care of him myself!"_

X climbed out onto the top of the battleship and turned around as he heard the sound of glass breaking near the front. With a pair of feathered shoulder pads spread before the light of the moon above, a stout robot dove straight towards X at speeds faster than most jets. X tried to fire at him, but the Reploid swerved between each blast and then clocked him with a fist to the face. The Hunter was pushed back and the Reploid landed ten feet away from him.

The Reploid wore a captain's cap above a pair of silver goggles, each one having a sort of "talon" attached above them. Like his namesake, Storm Owl had a small curved beak and three short talons on it's feet. His upper body was green and parted like a general's vest, with a tube on it that allowed him to function this high up. On his right arm was a buster with an amber colored inside and a red-white barrel. Overall the man projected an overall stern military demeanor.

"I was a fool to leave this battle to my men! After what you've done, I should've fought you from the very beginning!"

X swung his left fist out and lowered his head, exclaiming angrily "After what I'VE done?! You've put innocent lives at risk with your rebellion!" Storm Owl replied by swinging a pointer finger at him and roaring "We are fighting for our freedom! A freedom YOUR kind has taken away from us!"

"Sounds like Maverick talk to me!"

"SILENCE! Stop. Calling us. MAVERICKS!" Storm Owl's face fumed with steam as he berated X for his labeling "Just because we think for ourselves, just because we wish to be seen as equals amongst the humans we protect, doesn't make us monsters that need to be put down! And regardless, the way I see it, there have been far more MAVERICK HUNTERS that have gone Maverick then their have been Repliforce members!"

"T-That's…!" X was at a momentary loss for words, because upon thinking about it Storm Owl might've had a point. The Repliforce captain did not stop there, and was relentless in his next assault "Did you even bother to check us for signs of the virus? Did you perform a civil investigation into our facilities, or perhaps check our recent activities? None of that happened! We were left outcasts to the society we tried so hard to protect, and slaughtered like animals!"

Finding an opening to counterattack, X yelled a reminder in hopes of his foe hearing him out "What you're doing is going to spread fear across the entire planet! The Final Weapon is too dangerous for ANYONE to wield!"

"Ha, tell that to those bastards in the government who BUILT that accursed weapon! People like them only respond to power and nothing else! I will fight with everything I have to ensure we can be free…It just so happens I can settle my vengeance against the Hunter who felled my old comrade Storm Eagle in the process!"

"Y-You knew him…?" X's gasp of shock was answered by Storm Owl swinging his wings out and exclaiming "Enough talk! Prepare to perish!"

He then took flight above the battleship, swiping a hand forward to send four tracking lasers at the ground. Then the same number of metallic feathers detached from his back and thrust right along the give path. They pierced into the ground and forced X back, but as he was in mid-leap Storm Owl dove down and grabbed him in his talons. He slammed and dragged X along the ground until the Hunter attacked him with Magma Dragoon's Rising Fire.

Storm Owl hopped off, the flames brushing against left wing. X flew back a few more feet until he used his jet boots to kick up, where he quickly fired an Electro Web at Storm Owl's wing as he tried to wave the fire off. The captain glanced over at the speeding web and rolled to the right, spreading his wings and going straight at X once more.

The Hunter grit his teeth and charged his energy, changing to the Frost Tower colors before throwing his right arm out and summoning a series of giant icicles from the air above Storm Owl's path. The captain raised his cannon up and fired a large cyclone that grinded the ice apart and covered the skies in a thin layer of frost.

"Your tricks won't work on me! I am a veteran of war!"

He dove through the frost towards the shadow of X visible within, but as he swung his buster forward for another cyclone he found that he was nowhere in sight. Storm Owl immediately spun around and looked skyward, remarking "H-How in the world…?!" as he saw X in mid-air with buster charged and a focused look in his eyes.

Storm Owl was too slow to avoid the coming charged shot, and his body was slowly ripped into by it's greatly eclipsing form while he was simultaneously pushed back. Storm Owl stamped his feet on the ground and managed to pull his left hand away, summoning forth a barrier of wind that whipped away most of the energy from the charged shot. Part of his beak and frontal paint was torn away, leaving him with most of his bare frame exposed.

"Fine…! I haven't even begun to fight!"

Storm Owl went airborne and then started flying at mach speed, zipping every which way around X's location. His body made a cyclone surrounding X, trapping him within the eye of it. Storm Owl flew out of the cyclone and slashed at X's body, chipping into it with every pass he made. But at his speeds those chips were sure to become scars, and eventually irreparable damage.

But Storm Owl was simply too fast for X to get a bead on with his normal arsenal. _"Think X, think!"_ His mind shuffled through every weapon available in his arsenal faster than a supercomputer would. Thus, in a millisecond, he had realized what was effective for dealing with such an agile foe. Switching to purple and mint-green colors, X stood still and let a ring of reticules appear around his body.

The moment Storm Owl entered one of the reticules, a laser fired forth from X's body that zapped the Repliforce captain and paralyzed him entirely. He shook and dropped to the ground, his cyclone breaking apart. Storm Owl stumbled back, coughing a bit of smoke forth from his beak and murmured "H-How can one Reploid have such a massive arsenal…?!"

X breathed a sigh of relief and turned his buster upon Storm Owl, charging it up as he exclaimed angrily "You say the Final Weapon is dangerous…But YOU'RE the biggest threat to this world! All that power…SIMPLY CANNOT GO UNCHECKED!"

That would be the last thing he'd ever say, as X's next charged shot ripped through his stout body without remorse, leaving just the limbs, wings and head intact. His eyes went blank white, and his beak stayed open. X slowly lowered his buster and took in a deep breath. Finding out what Repliforce's plans did ease his guilty in taking them out a little bit, but a part of him still wished things didn't have to be this way.

His thoughts and body were rocked by the battleship being assaulted by a series of power laser blasts. Now that Storm Owl had been confirmed dead, the Hunters likely took it upon themselves to take down his ship. However, it appeared as though many of the Repliforce fleet had already managed to escape the assault and headed towards space.

Looking towards the starry skies, X realized that the Final Weapon had to be amongst those sparkles that littered the black abyss of space. It was pointed down, waiting for the fuel necessary to fire.

Deciding without a second thought towards anything else, X ran for the front of the falling battleship, scooping his hand down to absorb Storm Owl's power while using the other to get in contact with Double.

"I'm heading for the Final Weapon! General has to be stopped before it's too late! Tell Zero to find a ship and rendezvous with me when he's finished!"

He didn't wait for a response from the other line as his body was rocked by the explosions going off around him. If he didn't put all his efforts into escaping, he'd perish the moment the ship crashed against the city. Leaping off the front of the ship onto one of the wings, X ran towards a shuttle and opened the cockpit. Hopping inside, he quickly sealed himself in and activated the thrusters on the back. He looked towards the sky and as he took off towards it, remarked in a determined tone "Here I come…FINAL WEAPON!"

 _Next Time: Duel of Ideals_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Colonel**

Having departed from the Maverick Hunter HQ, Zero warped straight down into the middle of the space port where Colonel had been sighted. The scuffle between Storm Owl and the Hunter's fleets was underway above him, and as he looked up Zero had hoped to find some signs of X somewhere above.

"Tough it out X…We can't let Repliforce get to the Final Weapon."

He then looked ahead and drew his blade. The port was vast and contained many large vessels that were constructed to breech and survive past Earth's atmosphere. Some were still in development, while others had already been destroyed by bombardments above. Storm Owl's brigade were avoiding this part of the port because of Colonel's presence, however.

Not that they would need to provide support. As Zero ran ahead past the supports and barricades, he found the bodies of Reploids cleaved with precise strokes through their abdomens. These valiant defenders had their lives cut too soon, victims of Colonel's drive. At one point, Zero looked at a pile of five dead Reploids and grit his teeth, mumbling in anger towards his former comrade "Colonel, how is ANY of this going to bring freedom to Repliforce?!"

As he entered the main building, he tapped the side of his head and remarked "Iris, I need a lock on Colonel's location." There was no response, and without breaking out of his sprint he climbed the tiers of the building and exclaimed "Iris! Pick up! This isn't the time to hesitate!"

At the very top, Zero paused and hung his head a little bit. He felt that, if Iris was actually at her post, he would have heard a mumble, perhaps even a sigh of distress. Instead, she had run off, the stress of this situation forcing her to abandon her post.

Face trembling in a bitter rage, Zero lowered his hand and clenched it into a fist beside his hip and grumbled "D-Damn it!" He wished he could do something at this very moment to relieve Iris' worries, but duty called for him to take action and the crux of her fears ultimately lied in Colonel's insane behavior.

Charging forward through the door ahead, Zero ended up on a walkway connecting the building to a station containing many one-man space shuttles. The very second he was through the door, he bore witness to a Reploid being sliced through with a violent, diagonal cut. On the other side of the falling Reploid was Colonel, his eyes projecting a cold, brooding glare until Zero entered his line of sight. Then, his brows lowered, making his glare one of scorn.

"Zero…" Colonel dryly remarked as he held his sword at the hip, pointing it at the Hunter before him in a lofty manner. Zero stepped forward, looking around the grated bridge. Colonel hadn't left just one corpse in his wake. There were a few others littered about, all of them wearing the same uniform and helmet, but none of them the same as the guards that Zero had seen beforehand.

" _These are…members of that Shadow Corps Iris mentioned…"_

Zero examined them their bodies with a horrified stutter. Their bodies had been dismantled and spread across the bridge, some of the wires dangling the upper halves of their bodies like they were puppets. Colonel had been merciless in taking them down, and he looked no worse for the wear.

Recognizing the inquiring nature of Zero's gaze, Colonel swung his left hand out towards the corpses and remarked "So, now you've come to kill me as well…" Contrasting to his untouched appearance, his voice was tired, rugged, as though with just a few more steps he'd fall into a deep slumber out of exhaustion.

Zero kept his eyes in a widened stare for a few seconds, then narrowed it into a heated glare as he raised his sword at Colonel and said "Don't do anything else you'll regret Colonel. Hand over the 'Bassnium' and come with me quietly."

Colonel blinked a couple times then lowered his head, chuckling out an echo of Zero's words "Quietly, huh?" The Hunter pointed his sword a little further and exclaimed "What's so funny?!"

Colonel raised his head back up and gestured his hand towards Zero, brandishing a loathsome pointer finger while explaining "We're far past the point of doing things quietly, Zero. Had this confrontation happened in the beginning, I may have been willing to hear you out. Besides, look at me…" He held his hand out and pivoted his body left and right, nothing on him save for the armor composing his body.

"There is not a trace of 'Bassnium' on me."

"That's impossible. You're the one who had it last!"

"And then I handed it over to General, who by now has breeched the planet's atmosphere and boarded the Final Weapon with a platoon of his finest soldiers, waiting for the rest of us to join him."

"What?!" Zero blurted in shock, stammering out a moment after composing himself "You're just bluffing! We would've detected-"

A pause occurred from a recollection of what had happened before. The words of Frost Walrus rung true in his mind _"Harumph, not anymore. Cleared the ol' place out-"_ The old Reploid didn't finish, but he had been hiding a secret that Zero hadn't been able to deduce until now. Feeling a bit of rage at not taking such info into consideration sooner, he bit his teeth together and growled out "Of course, you had Frost Walrus send cloaking technology to General!"

"Exactly. You've finally pieced together the whole puzzle, haven't you Zero?"

Zero looked at Colonel's stern stare and tried to keep his cool in detailing Repliforce's entire plan "First, you divided our forces to ensure that I would go to Frost Walrus' place after the cloaking technology had been sent away. Then, you used that time to have Jet Stingray set up bombs in the power plant connected to the storage facility that held the supply of 'Bassnium' you needed. Then, you split X and I up so we wouldn't be able to stop you from obtaining it. Finally, you went into hiding to prepare General's vessel for space travel and get Storm Owl's fleet ready to provide one last distraction while YOU snuck into the Space Port to join General at the Final Weapon."

Colonel closed his eyes, and with a scathing scowl Zero inquired "That's the whole story, isn't it?" The Reploid muttered with a little pride towards Zero "Almost…You've almost figured it out…"

He opened his eyes and looked Zero straight-on, telling him honestly "Storm Owl is not using his fleet as a distraction. We are all trying our hardest to join General at the Final Weapon…And once we do, that place shall be refitted into a Reploid Sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?!" Zero was flabbergasted, outright OFFENDED by Colonel's choice of words. Swinging his head back and forth, the Hunter gripped his sword even tighter and exclaimed "Only a madman would call a weapon of mass destruction something like that! The only Reploids it'll protect are you traitors!"

Colonel's eyes widened, while his lips stiffened into a melancholy frown. He shut his eyelids and murmured "How quick you are to give up on me Zero, when you haven't even heard the full story. How do you think Iris would feel hearing that coming from you?"

"Don't you DARE bring her into this!" Zero exclaimed with a fury unseen. Pulling his head back with a deep-grit scowl, the Hunter swung his sword aside and remarked "You want to know how she feels?! Ever since YOU went Maverick, she's been crying, BEGGING for you to come back, for everything to go back to the way it was before! And now you're just going to ignore all that to point a doomsday weapon at the planet!"

Colonel got a tad more aggressive as he stabbed his sword into the ground and exclaimed "It's far, FAR too late to return to the way things were before! Ever since the attack on Sky Lagoon, Repliforce, nay, ALL Reploids are under the threat of genocide."

"What? That's nonsense!"

"Is it really Zero? Face the facts, we're the only 'species' in the world that can be infected by the Sigma Virus, and nobody knows if it's even possible to put an end to it! At any given moment, a human could lose a friend, a worker could lose a partner, all because one Reploid went insane without their own say in the matter. The government has every right to fear us, but they've done us no favors by coordinating events to perpetuate that fear in the eyes of the populace!"

For a moment, Zero could understand Colonel's frustration, and his blade lowered while he remarked "You're right. It's not even your fault that Sky Lagoon was destroyed. It…it was Magma Dragoon, possessed by the Sigma Virus…"

"Hmph, and yet again a Maverick Hunter is to blame." Colonel whispered scornfully under a sigh. Zero then returned to a more angered, defiant tone as he told the man he once respected "But this isn't the way to go Colonel! What is there to gain from using the Final Weapon?!"

Colonel calmly explained "Have you ever heard of a deterrent? For countless years, humans have used deterrents to halt the possibility of calamity born from nuclear weaponry. The fear of an all-out nuclear war is enough to deter it from happening. As far as the Final Weapon goes, by being in possession of it, we'll ensure the governments of this world will never dare make another strike against us. Those who wield great power such as themselves will only respond to an equal or greater show of power, but they would dare not strike back if it meant their world was damaged in the process."

The Reploid laid both his hands atop the handle of his sword and closed his eyes, remarking with the utmost honesty "I wish there was some other way. Some way that didn't resort to harnessing fear as a weapon…But I've been left with no other choice. This is the ONLY way to secure the future of Reploid kind!"

Zero growled out "Fear huh? I guess you've become a real Maverick now, haven't you Colonel?" The Reploid slowly shook his head and replied "My mind is clear, my thoughts are my own…" before he pulled his sword from the ground and leaned forward, gripping it tightly in his right hand beside his hip.

"If disagreements are all it takes to qualify me as a Maverick, then we're both in the same boat, aren't we Zero?"

Zero arched his brows, grabbing his sword in both hands and swinging it beside his face. The glow of the blade cast a fierce shadow upon his face, which crumpled into a gritty scowl.

"I'm not going to let you do this Colonel. I'll destroy both you AND the Final Weapon."

"I'm sorry you feel that way Zero. Honestly, deep down a part of me hoped that you would have reconsidered, that you would join me and Iris in our new Sanctuary, and break free yourself from this self-destructive cycle. But it appears, in the end, that you can only find purpose in battle…While I actually care for the safety of our species."

Colonel briefly closed his eyes, his mind deep in thought. Then, he thrust his eyelids open and with a battle ready glare declared to his opponent "You're the last obstacle in my way Zero. I'm sorry that we must cross blades, but I cannot lose! Not when there's an ideal worth fighting for!"

They were two warriors, standing alone on a bridge in the middle of a night. There was not a single other soul around to disturb them. It was a battle between two ideals, and what was considered virtuous would be decided by the very blades they wielded.

Neither moved, they were so still it was like a picture painted upon a grand canvas. Their eyes were focused on one another, both waiting for the other to make the first move. When their feet moved even one step, they would never be allowed to take it back. Words had betrayed them, their thoughts until this moment had been rendered pointless. Only in this moment, the twilight of this rebellion, would the fate of Repliforce be decided.

Zero gripped his hands tightly around the handle of his blade, the metal twisting between his fingers. His legs nudged a little bit ahead, then broke into a valiant sprint towards Colonel. He let out a cry of anger as she parted the left hand from the blade and swung down with his right, aiming straight for Colonel's chest.

The man parried the blow with a swift and equal show of force, their collision sending a flash of light outward that reflect the tint of their blades. Zero stamped his feet on the ground and swung his blade up swift as lightning. Colonel sealed his lips with a grunt and stepped back, the sword inches away from leaving a fatal scar on the abdomen of his armor.

To achieve the speed necessary for such a slash, Zero left his body wide-open to a counterattack, and even he was aware of this as he grit his teeth and watched as Colonel wasted no time pulling his sword back and stabbing it straight towards his chest. Bringing his left hand down against the side of the blade, Zero pressed against it with all his might to slow it's momentum, even though in doing so the material in his glove broke down and exposed the wiring underneath.

It was a minor sacrifice though, given how it allowed him enough time to leap out of the range of Colonel's blade. Colonel raised his brows, gave an impressed hum, and then spun his blade around to point it towards the air. The energy projected a radiant sheen and broke through the darkness like a prismatic streetlamp, blinding Zero for but a moment.

Then, as Zero was left grimacing with a hand before his face, Colonel swung his sword over his left shoulder and sliced it forward with all he had, releasing three ever larger crescents of energy in a horizontal manner. Zero drew his blade up, but each crescent struck harder than the last and in seconds had him colliding with the door he came through. The force of the last attack struck so hard that it dislodged the blade from Zero's hand and sent it rolling towards the edge of the bridge.

Zero swung his body down the moment he could and plucked the sword up, right in time to swing it beside his face to block Colonel's swift, diagonal slice. The two's blades stayed locked as Zero pushed himself upright, neither budging any more than a few centimeters apart. Zero held his right hand against his wrist to better support his blade, and with one hard push he repelled Colonel's sword and made him stumble back a couple feet.

Leaning forward just a bit, Colonel took pause when his left foot crushed down on the arm of one of the Reploids he had slain. Taking a moment to use said foot to nudge the corpse off the bridge, Colonel then hopped right back to the center of the bridge when Zero leapt at him and spun himself forward like a pinwheel, his sword acting as the blades.

Colonel crossed his sword before his chest and sparks flew as Zero's blade connected with it, some of them burning into the delicate metal fencing around them. The only way for Colonel to stop the attack was to draw his blade away from his body with all his strength, in doing so managing to slice the very air itself and kick up a powerful gale that blew Zero three feet back.

But the force required to perform that technique gave Zero the opening he needed to charge forth the very moment he landed and slice Colonel with all he had. Colonel bit his lower lip and grabbed his sword tighter than what was necessary, forcing his arm to swing back against the force of his prior momentum even as his elbow let loose a rigid creak.

Zero's eyes widened and he ducked down, the blade clipping the tips of his helmet off while he managed to get a more crucial attack in by delivering a hard cut to Colonel's leg. The wound was deep enough to disconnect a couple of the wires in his right leg. Colonel groaned and took a couple steps back, then renewed his focused and leaned forward, reflecting Zero's three slashes with swift, close-ranged swings.

Then in the interim between Zero's attacks, Colonel raised his sword above his head and back leaped to the opposite side of the bridge. With a gleam that cast his scowl in a more ferocious light, he brought his blade down with the force of a guillotine against the air, creating a massive wave of energy once he hit the ground.

With nowhere to run but back, Zero made three swift leaps in that direction and then kicked at the ground with all his strength to get up on the wall. His body ended up a few inches higher than the top of the energy wave, and for a moment the Hunter breathed a sigh of relief before vaulting off the wall and diving straight down at Colonel.

Instead of guarding the attack, Colonel leaned straight forward and his body fizzled out of view , leaving Zero stabbing his sword onto the bare ground. The Hunter let out a short "Huh?" and then heard Colonel's footsteps coming down behind him. Holding his sword in a reverse grip, Zero swung it behind his head and blocked Colonel's blade. Looking over his right shoulder, Zero grit his teeth and glared at his foe with the same ire he was giving him.

The two grinded their blades together, their positions shifting a few millimeters every second as they attempted to overpower each other. Zero spun his right hand back and turned into his buster, jabbing it right into Colonel's chest. In response, Colonel coiled his right hand into a fist and hooked it under Zero's blade, punching him square in the face.

Zero went stumbling sideways while Colonel raised his blade above his head, ready to swing it down with all his might. The moment Zero felt his right elbow bump against the nearby door, he tossed his blade into his other hand and gave two quick, limp slashes to hold back Colonel's attack as best he could. He then used the opening he had to fire a buster shot into Colonel's stomach.

Instead of finishing his attack, Colonel redirected the course of his blade to slice the projectile in two, the tip of the sword then digging into the ground and leaving a glowing scar before his feet. He rose his blade up with all his might, going straight for Zero's arm, but the Hunter pulled his arm out and summoned forth a thick icicle out of the blade to take Colonel's attack.

The ice shattered apart and became a cloud of fine, grainy hail, obscuring Colonel's vision. He widened his eyes and cautiously stepped back, then made one hard diagonal swipe towards the frost to blow it away. Zero was no longer there, so a quick deduction guided his sight upward, where he swung his left arm before his chest as Zero thrust an electric whip at him from his sword handle while sliding down the nearby wall.

Colonel jerked his arm back to tug Zero in, but that was simply playing into his hands. Zero turned his other arm into a buster and jammed it into Colonel's left shoulder. Firing at point-blank, he blew a hole right through it and made his arm go limp.

Colonel grunted in pain and then swung the back of his right hand into Zero's face the moment his feet touched the ground. The whip snapped off from Zero's handle, and after rubbing his bent cheek the Hunter called his sword again. He sliced forward in an arc but Colonel hopped to the center of the bridge, taking his sword into his other hand now that the left had been rendered unusable.

He didn't give in, and swung his sword above his head and seemed able to bend the very laws of nature to aid him in his cause as the clouds started crackling with an intense electricity that rocked the skies above. A bolt of lightning came crashing down upon Colonel's blade and shook the bridge to the point of loosening a couple of it's bolts, and though off-balance at first Zero went straight towards Colonel with sword drawn beside his head.

Colonel stabbed the ground after a moment's pause, and the electricity he grabbed pulsed through the bridge. Zero leaped over, thinking he had the advantage in the air, but was taken by surprise when a streak of lightning erupted from the ground and surged through his body. He was frozen in place, letting out a curling scream before the electricity parted and sent him flying into the wall.

He was magnetized to it for a little bit then dropped to his knees, electricity continuing to circulate throughout his frame every few seconds. Zero rose up, feeling that his body was weaker than before. It would be even easier for Colonel to slice his body to shreds should he so wish. If he made a wrong move, just ONE mistake, then the battle was over. Zero HAD to end this as quickly as he could now, Colonel had forced that hand.

Zero lunged at Colonel and swung with all he had, grabbing the sword in both hands. Rain began to fall at a steady pace upon the space port, thunder clapping as Colonel and Zero clashed blades. Zero had the advantage in strength, Colonel had the advantage in precision. Whoever was more proficient at using their respective advantage would win this battle.

Colonel stabbed his sword forward twice like he was wielding a rapier, aiming right for Zero's exposed chest. The Hunter let go of his blade by flipping it around, blocking both blows before clasping it in his other hand and swiping straight at Colonel's chest.

Colonel raised his blade, using the top of it to push Zero's up until it nicked the left side of his neck and cut off the spike atop his left shoulder. Zero twisted his wrist to swing the blade back down and slice diagonally across Colonel's chest. The rain pattered into the open scar, a few sparks flying out. Colonel grit his teeth and swung his sword down in one heavy, violent stroke. He struck Zero's blade with enough force to bend his hand inward, splitting the back of his wrist open an inch.

Zero put his sword into the other hand and made three swift slices towards Colonel's open wound. Colonel kept his sword at bay, protecting his chest as though it was the most valuable thing in the world to him. He took a couple steps back, trying to get out of range of Zero's blade, but the Hunter matched him step for step. Their feet made a quiet splash on the now drenched bridge, while the collision of their blades parted the droplets surrounding them and created flashes brighter than the lightning that fell from the heavens.

Colonel raised his sword as far above his head as his joints would allow, while Zero gripped his sword in both hands ready and pulled it back beside his head. He was aiming for the opening in Colonel's chest where his main hard drive was positioned, while Colonel planned to divide Zero in two. Colonel's sword came down first, and he leaned just a little bit to ensure that Zero would not get a chance to evade.

But then there was a crunch. Amidst the lightning and falling rain, it was a sound that could barely be heard save for the person of whom it originated from. Colonel paused and glanced down, the wires exposed from the cut in his right leg pinching together against the slit and leaving him unable to move for one second. That miniscule moment, which would otherwise feel as insignificant as any other, dictated the climax of this mortal duel.

Colonel was stabbed straight through, his glowing purple core stuck to the tip of Zero's blade as it was left exposed past the hole out of his back. The very moment the fatal blow was struck, lightning crashed down ten feet away from the bridge, shaking it with a deafening roar that made Zero's expression squirm and left his hearing temporarily shaken.

Colonel's blade dropped out of his hand and rolled off the side of the bridge, carried by the rain that overflowed it. His body stayed suspended only with the assistance of Zero's blade, but that was only a temporary measure as it slowly cut up towards the shoulder. Colonel looked at Zero, his expression far from bitter. With what little energy he had left he smiled and raised his right hand up, patting down on the victor's shoulder to say his final words.

"Take care of…Iris….ok, Zero?"

Zero gasped. Colonel's final words took him aback, confusing him after all the two had just fought over. Colonel wasn't angry, he didn't roar in agony, he didn't curse the end of his ambitions. He left this world as calm and righteous as the Reploid Zero remembered the most, wishing nothing more than for his sister to be happy.

Zero stood still, pulling his blade out the moment it escaped the expanse of Colonel's shoulder, and letting the core drop onto his back. Words escaped him, and his mind was hollow. His hands shook, and soon they let go of his sword so he could bring before his face. A bit of oil had gotten on them. Was it his, or Colonel's? He could not tell, and slowly the rain washed it all away. Yet for a moment, Zero's mind flashed back in time, showing him looking at his hands as they were drenched with more oil, and dozens of Reploid corpses laid at his feet.

When he snapped back to reality, he wanted to scream. But instead, he lifted his head up, his empty gaze focusing on one who should not have been there. Standing in the rain, her hair drenched as much as her tear-stricken face, was Iris.

"I-Iris…?" Zero's voice was hoarse and confused. He reached out to Iris with his right hand, but she retreated a step back, dropping a device that was grasped in both hands. She cuddled those hands against her chest and her head shook to and fro, each swing going slower than the steps she took back.

Zero took a step over Colonel's body, making an apologetic plea towards the person he cared for "Iris, please, I-" With her back against the door, Iris's body jerked forward and she bit her teeth down. She trembled, her gaze so pale it was like she had seen a monster. All those fears rose within her body and manifested into one heartbroken, bloodcurling scream.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Zero froze, a dagger struck through the part of his chest his heart would be. He held his hand out in the air and did nothing as the door opened behind Iris and she held her right hand back, cautiously shuffling her feet away before breaking into a run to distance herself from Zero as much as her body would allow her. The door slammed shut, and Zero was left to focus his gaze towards the device she left behind.

It was turned on, and even with his vision blurred by the trickling rain Zero could make out that someone's name was on the device. He walked over and picked it up, turning it around to give it a good, long look. His eyes froze up at it's contents.

"Frost Walrus: Uninfected…Jet Stingray: Uninfected…" It was a list of the Repliforce members X and Zero had taken out until this point. All of them had the same condition listed. By the time Zero was done listing them off, he noticed that there was a scanner at the very top. His 'heart' pounded against his chest as he glanced over at Colonel's rusting corpse, and a moment later he turned around and pointed the device towards him.

A grid-like scanner went over his entire body, then let off a "Beep!" to let Zero know it was done. He was hesitant to look down, and sure enough what he saw was enough to make him drop the device. This time, it broke upon impact, but Zero would never forget what he saw on it. Gripping the sides of his head and dropping to his knees, his whole world was shaken.

"Colonel was…uninfected…?"

Not just him, all of Repliforce was uninfected. That means, in the traditional sense of the world, none of them had gone Maverick. Their own thoughts, their own will, dictated their every move. This rebellion was formed by their ideals, not brought about by madness. But now, only General remained to carry on the will of those ideals, and though he was stricken with a grief he could not explain…Zero knew that he could not just stand idly by while the Final Weapon still existed.

Looking up one more time at Colonel's body, Zero found the strength to stand on his feet, vowing to not let something like this happen again. He then crossed the bridge and went through the door waiting for him on the other side. Upon entering, he boarded the only shuttle, and took off straight for space…

As he did so, he left Iris behind, who huddled herself in a corner of the building and laid her knees on the ground. Her knuckles dug into her 'tear ducts' and she sobbed all by her lonesome…Or so she thought. The sound of footsteps heralded one's approach, and she clasped her hands against the sides of the wall and twisted her body in a terrified manner.

"N-No…Get away from me Zero, get away!" She flailed her right arm out while looking away, but the person approaching her wasn't Zero. It was in fact Double, the last person she had ever expected to see here. He raised his hands up and calmly remarked "Easy there Iris, it's just me! Your good pal Double!"

Iris blabbered out in a melancholy tone "D-Double…?" whilst wiping a tear trickling down the right side of her face. She laid her hand atop her legs as Double approached, wistfully rubbing the back of his head while cracking a sly grin.

"Yeah, I came to find ya after you ran off…But, it seems I came at a really bad time, huh?"

Iris hung her head and Double laid his knuckles against the sides of his hips. With an offended scoff he said "So Zero finally did Colonel in, huh? The nerve of the guy, killing the one you care about the most after you pleaded him not to."

"P-Please just go away…"

"Hey hey, don't be defensive. I'm on your side, honest!" Double approached Iris and bent his stubby body down, patting her on the back to offer comfort. She continued to cry, while Double asked her "You're feeling real down in the dumps, huh? Perhaps even a little angry at Zero for what he did?"

Iris laid her hands atop her chest and with a short hiccup murmured "I-It hurts so much…my heart…I-it burns…"

"Yeah, that's what hatred feels like. It's not very pretty, that's for sure! So you say it hurts…but can you describe the feeling anymore than that?"

Iris shook her head, and Double nudged her with a supportive gesture of his other hand "Does it make you want to hit Zero? Maybe give him a real piece of your mind? Or perhaps…" A fanged grin crossed his face from cheek to chubby cheek, and he whispered grimly into Iris' ear _"Perhaps you want to KILL Zero, hmmm?"_

Iris' eyes widened and her head jolted up. She crossed her arms against her chest, which beat ever faster, and turned to Double. The pudgy Reploid smiled with the same kindness as before, hiding the eagerness welling inside him as Iris hid her eyes under the shade of her bangs and murmured "M-Maybe I do…"

Double continued rubbing her back, assuring her with a subtle, sinister honest "Well then don't you worry your pretty little head over it…Your old pal Double has a little…" With a sly grin cracked he finished " **Plan** in mind for our buddy Zero…"

 _Next Time: The Conspiracy Revealed_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Double Crossed**

In a matter of minutes after leaving Storm Owl's fleet behind, X's ship was breeching the storm clouds that had formed in the sky. His ship was rocked by the roar of thunder and crash of lightning, forcing him to hold onto the steering wheel as tight as he could to stay on course. He grunted and grit his teeth as the ship jerked left and right.

"Got to…break…THROUGH!" He pressed down on the ignition as hard as he could, converting all the ship's power into the jets. They flared up larger than the ship itself, and sent X hurtling through the storm clouds faster than the fastest bullet. His body was pressed against the back of his seat, and it took him a few moments to readjust himself.

When he laid his hands on the steering wheel again, his eyes laid beholden to a fantastic sight. Stars, stars as far as the eye can see, were laid out across the endless void of space. X could not fathom counting all of them, even if he lived for another hundred years. In clear view at a much closer distance was the moon. Even hearing what the moon looked like from others, seeing it now in all it's pristine, stony glory left X speechless.

Then with a gasp, X realized the window for this shuttle was spacious enough that he could look back and see the planet he came from. Having just breeched the atmosphere, the most he could see was the North and South American continents, which had mixes of brown and green across their lands. X stared in awe at how much water the planet had, and the clouds seemed more like singular entities than a swarm of white puffs in the sky.

This beautiful world was what he was fighting to protect, along with the millions of humans and Reploids too miniscule for him to even see from here. With a slow turn of his head back to the controls, X arched his brows and remarked "I'll do it…I'll protect this world!"

He gripped the boosters and rocketed off towards his destination, a massive satellite with eight attachments shaped like the thin, curved petals of a daisy that were wrapped around a tower with a laser cannon pointed right at the Earth. Seeing something so destructive pointed at something as beautiful as the Earth filled X's mind with disgust.

Disgust towards General, for being willing to use this weapon for his cause, and for once feeling disgust towards the humans that built this weapon in the first place. He widened his eyes and let out a gasp at himself for feeling such things, but the surprise didn't last for long once he put a little thought into things. Just like there are Mavericks amongst Reploids, there are bad humans amongst the good ones. But as much as X wanted to do something about the crimes of humanity, that was not in his programming. He knew, deep down, that he was never to harm a human.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, X tried to remain focused and flew his shuttle straight towards the Final Weapon. The place didn't have any defenses set up around the perimeter, at least not at the moment, as X did fly by a few outer turrets on his way to the landing zone. He got inside without a fight, then landed his ship underneath a large Repliforce carrier. An energy barrier at the door prevented the vacuum of space from affecting anything in this room, so X was able to exit his shuttle safe and sound.

He cocked his buster at the waist and looked around. All the Repliforce troops had abandoned the landing zone and gone on ahead. Everything was quiet, too quiet. Despite his suspicions of a possible sneak attack, X took a moment to get in contact with HQ.

"Double, come in Double. I've infiltrated the Final Weapon. If possible, transmit General's location to me." There was no response. X couldn't feel any disruption in his transmission, in fact it was clearer than it ever had been before.

"Has he left his post…?" X mumbled as he drew his hand away from his helmet, resting it atop his buster. Looking ahead at the only door out of this room, he knew he didn't have time to wait for Double to respond. He'd have to find General on his own. As he remembered that Zero was still down on Earth, he wondered how the fight with Colonel was going, and the possibilities that went through his mind were none too pleasant.

"…I can't worry about that now. Zero can handle himself." X nodded his head and sprinted right for the door. It opened with his presence, but the moment he was passed it a few of the drones he saw on Storm Owl's fleet dropped from the ceiling and almost sniped his head off with a heavy laser beam. He rolled to the left and fired a charged shot to destroy the drones, then cocked his buster atop his left bent knee and remarked "So they know I'm here…"

With a sharp "Tsk…!" he kept his buster charged and stood upright, sprinting deeper into the Final Weapon. He noticed the walls were lined with dozens of thick wires, all of them connecting to many power cores that beat like the 'hearts' of Reploids. The cores even thumped like human hearts would as well. It was a little disturbing to listen to, and the noise disrupted X's focus just enough that lasers from Repliforce's drones managed to scrape his armor.

Keeping on the straight path ahead, X noticed that a lot of machines were set up not just in the walls, but in the floor as well. All of them served to keep the Final Weapon running, making it no surprise that one would need something as powerful as 'Bassnium' to even fire the cannon. Even focusing on the way this satellite was constructed, X managed to clear the first hall of Repliforce troops and jumped up the wall to reach the next door.

Passing through it, X saw a hallway going left and right a little further ahead. With a cautious raise of his buster he heard some footsteps along with seeing a couple shadows running down from the left. Pointing his buster up, he charged up to the point of the energy pouring out from the barrel, only to hesitate when he saw just who was coming.

It was Double, and trailing behind him was Iris.

"What…? Double and…Iris?" X's mind didn't know how to process what he was seeing. For a brief moment, he thought he was being tricked. Before making a mistake he'd soon regret, he retracted the energy he was about to fire and ran down the hallway, rounding to the right corner and proclaiming "Hey! Double! Iris!" as loud as he could.

The two turned back as they walked out onto a platform in the middle of a spherical room, watching as X ran towards them. Iris raised a hand to her mouth and looked worried, as she began biting the tips of her fingers. Double swung his left arm back and said "Don't worry about X, Iris, go on ahead. You should be able to find him soon!"

Iris gave a terse nod then turned around, dashing to the door at the other side of the room. X swung his right arm out and proclaimed "Iris, hold on!" but his path was blocked by Double holding his arms out and shaking his head nice and slow.

X waved his hand out and remarked with haste "Double, what's the meaning of this?! Why are you and Iris here?!" Double closed his eyes and said in a serious tone "Sorry sir, but I had to do this. Poor Iris had her heart broken by Zero, so I brought her here to meet with General."

"…Her heart broken?" Even though those words sounds weird put together, X could piece the meaning behind them, and realized that Colonel had to have been killed by Zero. Lowering his head and letting out a grunt of anger that things should've gone differently, X then looked at Double and exclaimed "Even still, this place is too dangerous! What were you thinking bring her up here?!"

"Well, uhh, you see…" Double stammered, rubbing his chubby right pointer finger against the side of his cheek. X shook his head and started to walk around him, remarking in a disappointed tone "Return to HQ, we'll continue this talk later. That's an order, Double."

As X went for the door, Double laid his hands at his sides and glanced over his left shoulder. His eyes slanting into a darker glare. With a deepened tone, he punctuated a response with scathing sarcasm.

"Yes, _**sir**_."

X was about to exit the room when he heard something slicing it's way through the ground behind him. He turned around and leapt to the right, cocking his buster up as a rugged wave of energy ripped through the door. Before he fired his shot, he was shocked to identify his aggressor as Double, whose right arm had changed to a more beefy, purple, gelatinous filled form complete with a rugged energy blade atop his gauntlet.

Double lowered his arm and had a sinister grin on his face as he commented in annoyance "Damn…How could Repliforce make this so easy and yet so DIFFICULT at the same time?!" X paused, pointing his buster straight at Double while declaring "Who are you, and what have you done with the real Double?!"

"Hehehe….HAHAHAHA!" Double's face spread as far as it could as he erupted into laughter.

"'Real' Double? Hahahaha…You're an IDIOT, X!" Double then crossed his arms, the other limb transforming to resemble the buffer one. A bloody red energy formed around his entire body as the rest of him spontaneously transformed. His body became slender, the legs becoming almost as long as X's whole body, each ending with a single curved gold spike at the toes of his boots. His shoulder broadened and were lined with two curved spikes, while his core was bared behind the gelatinous material of his waist. The biggest change of all, however, came from his head. Double grew a pair of devilish horn at the sides of his helmet, his eyes were left blood red with miniature dotted pupils and the brows in a permanent slant, while his chin grew pointed and his smile more confident.

Standing in the center of the room with his body now stuck as this malicious machine, Double proclaimed with all the glee he could muster "There's only been one Double, and he's tricked ALL you gullible idiots into turning against each other! EHEHEHEHE!"

"What do you mean?! Answer me!" X lashed out with a furious confusion, and Double stood up and fondled the bottom of his chin while carrying an aloof air around him.

"Oh? What do you want to know? The part where I activated the dragon Mechaniloid to frame Repliforce for the attack on the Sky Lagoon? The part where I tricked Slash Beast and Web Spider into trying to kill you and Zero? Oh, or perhaps the part where I've sent that lovestruck FOOL Iris on a one-way trip to die at Zero's hands?!"

"Zero would never kill Iris! You're insane!"

"Insane?! I'm more sane than you'll ever be, X!" Double hunched forward and pointed a mocking finger at X, unable to hold his position from the sheer laughter he unleashed.

"Look at you! Spewing all that nonsense about 'peace' and 'understanding' between Reploids and humans when you're just as liable for their deaths as the common Maverick?! What a load of hypocritical CRAP!"

"T-That's…!"

"Your naïve ideals will never mesh with the fact that you're a living, breathing weapon…JUST LIKE ME!" Double clenched his extended hand into a fist and grit his teeth into a scowl as he drew a blade from that same fist.

"Your goodie-two shoes attitude pissed me off from the very start X! But now…Now I get to wipe that smug look of yours off the face of the Earth!"

X cocked his buster at Double and exclaimed with all his rage "You did all this just to get to me?! Thousands of humans and Reploids have DIED because of YOUR actions! Colonel, Repliforce…ALL THEIR LIVES ARE ON YOUR HEAD!"

"GOOD!" Double took X aback with his sudden and delighted exclamation. The Maverick licked his lips with a slimy purple tongue, proclaiming with a frightening nonchalance "Reploids, humanity, Mavericks?! I don't give a shit about ANY of them! Destruction, carnage…THAT is what truly makes me feel alive, X!"

X stared this monster in the face. The malice in his words, the callousness towards all forms of life. It filled X with a rage not experienced since the likes of Sigma. No, this Maverick was WORSE than Sigma. For all his cruelty, Sigma's ambitions were still aimed towards helping his kind, even if his methods were twisted to the core. Double, on the other hand, deserved not an ounce of mercy or sympathy from the likes of X.

"I won't let you get away with this! You'll pay for what you have done, DOUBLE!" X exclaimed, his buster charged to maximum in a second and a shot fired right at the madman. Double sliced it apart like nothing and cackled at the rage he was witnessing.

"Good…GOOD. Make this fight worth my time, X! Make it one that I, Lieutenant Double of the Shadow Corps, shall never, EVER forget!" Double then swung his arms out and floated an inch off the ground, his energy raging like never before.

"I'M SO ANXIOUS TO RIP YOU APART!"

Double dashed across the platform with the speed of a cheetah, drawing both his energy blades out and swinging them in a rapid flurry. X sprinted to the left to get out of the way, watching as Double blades tore through the wires in the wall behind him. The Maverick laughed and ripped some of those wires out, flinging them right at X.

In the few seconds Double took to do all this, the wires still retained their electricity and sent a powerful surge through X's body that left his feet magnetized to the ground. Double dashed in and sliced his right blade down, stabbing the ground as he ripped a diagonal scar into X's armor.

X grit his teeth and leapt back before Double could come back up with another slash, taking a chance to fire a charged shot at Double. The Maverick raised his right arm and blocked the shot, which did little more than ripple his gelatinous frame. He lowered his arm and cracked a smirk, while X gave him a worried stammer of the lips. Reaffirming his anger, X clutched his buster tightly and switched his armor's colors so he could fire some Twin Slashers.

Double raised his brows and swung his blades in a cross to rip through the energy crescents, remarking in glee "There's no weapon in the entire WORLD that can break me!"

X switched to an icy-blue color and charged energy in his body, swinging his arms up to call forth gigantic icicles from the sky. Double looked up at them and his smirked grew wider before he vaulted off the ground and stabbed one through with his blade, breaking it into many smaller chunks. He then spun his right leg up like a whirlwind, bringing it down upon one of the chunks to send it straight at X.

The ice shattered upon contact with X and knocked him towards the edge of the platform, where his balance became threatened. Double landed and waited for the remaining icicles to crash before lunging at X again. Before he was knocked down into the fans guarding the endless abyss below, X leaped back and kicked his legs up, blasting Double in the face with his jet boots as he propelled himself at the wall.

Double staggered back and brushed his arms at his face to remove the ashes placed upon them. X bounced off the wall and assaulted Double with a series of Ground Hunters, covering his body in explosions of which the top ones gave X enough propulsion to make it over Double's body. He turned the moment he landed and fired a charged shot at the Maverick's back.

"USELESS!" Double pivoted his upper body around and dug his right energy blade into the charged shot. The energy broke apart and was swallowed into his blade, which he then unleashed back out as a large spinning discus. X spun to the right and ducked back to avoid being sliced diagonally in half.

Double leaped up and stabbed right down towards X's exposed gut, leaving the Hunter but seconds to back flip out of the way. Double leaned forward and pulled himself from the ground to fly right at X with sword at the forefront. The Hunter shifted to the left, but did not make it in time as Double's blade cut through a couple inches of his waist.

X spun around and gripped down on the wound, summoning his other buster to launch an Electro Web at Double the moment he stopped moving. The web wrapped around Double's waist and sent a shock into his body, but it didn't seem to phase him.

"Hehehe…!" Double giggled and ripped the web right off, turning around to show X him crushing it between his fingers. He then leaped high up and dug his right sword into the air itself, ripping it down to create a massive crescent of static purple energy that launched itself right at X, tearing the floor beneath it to unrecognizable shreds.

Bathed in it's lethal glow, X grit his teeth and rolled to the right, gripping his buster as tight as he could while energy roared into the front of the barrel. He knew Double would lunge at him again, the Maverick's fighting style was unrelenting and ruthless, but this time X would take him off-guard by aiming not for the chest but by firing straight at his legs.

Double paused for a second during his charge and pulled his legs up with a hop, gritting his teeth to a scowl before he kicked his legs back and pushed himself against the air to dive down at X. The Hunter took in a deep breath, concentrating as hard as he could on his right fist. Double's movements seemed to slow before him, allowing him to swerve his head to the left to dodge his incoming blade.

Then, mustering his energy into his fist, X rose up and smashed it square into Double's chest. The Maverick's body keeled over in an arch, part of his back cracking as a shockwave ripped forth from it. X rose further, carrying the weight of Double's body against his knuckles until he was able to leap from the ground and throw the Maverick away with a spinning punch.

Double went flying onto the ground, his body bouncing twice until he dug his swords down and made himself stop. He then got to his feet and cackled, looking little worse for the wear.

"That…TICKLED!" Double slashed at the air with both his blades, his body becoming a living blur as he sent energy wave after energy wave at X like they were shurikens flicked out of his hand. X ran as fast as he could around Double, throwing Ground Hunters to get past the very bottom of the energy waves.

With how fast he was swinging his arms out, however, Double could take a moment to slice down the grounded stingrays without skipping a beat in his assault. X did a leaping cartwheel to escape a couple of the waves, then created a normal Frost Tower to give himself some momentary cover.

Ducking behind the ice, X could feel the tower being sliced through easily, forcing him to come up with a plan as fast as his mind would be able to process one.

" _Most of my weapons have no effect on his frame…I still haven't tried three of them out. Hope one of them works…"_

Shifting to a green and yellow color scheme, X swung himself around and pointed his buster at Double. The Frost Tower shattered to snowflakes as he fired a green energy orb carrying around it a circular gale as strong as a cyclone. Double stopped his onslaught to grin and raise his right arm to block this attack, declaring to X "Is this REALLY all you've got?!"

The cyclone struck his arm and tore part of the gelatinous frame apart, splattering it across the floor behind Double as he looked at the damage to his body with a hint of surprise in his glare. He then jerked his head to look at X, who fired another miniature cyclone his way. Double swung his other arm up, more of his gelatinous frame being torn away by making contact with those violent winds.

" _There we go! He can't defend himself if I tear his defenses off!"_ X was proud of his discovery and took a moment to smile before aiming his buster at Double again. The Maverick hunched over, laying his hands at his hips while beginning to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" X raised his brows and demanded an answer in a stern voice. Double's eyes widened to the point of cracking the frames, and he exclaimed an answer both honest and insulting "YOU X! You're HILARIOUS if you think that'll be enough to stop me!"

Double clenched his fists and swung them back, the gelatin that flew off his body squirming to life before X's very eyes.

" _Is he rebuilding himself?!"_ The answer was no, but the truth of what Double was up to was only going to make things even tougher for X. The gelatin merged together, creating four separate, solidified drones each equipped with a miniature anti-personnel laser turret.

"What?!"

Double gave his right arm a heavy swing out from his hip, exclaiming with the utmost glee "Go! Rip this pathetic Hunter to shreds!" The drones flew out with weapons ablaze, each one firing blinding lasers through the front of their frames. X cocked his buster and switched to a purple and aquamarine color scheme, using a reticule to lock down the zipping drones and blast them with a triangular laser.

He tanked a few shots to accomplish this task, then set his sights onto Double who was charging right at him. The reticule locked on, Double pulled back his right sword, and after charging energy X held his buster out and fired a thick green laser at Double's body. The Maverick swung his sword out and stabbed it into the center of the laser, the energy parting around his body as he dove right towards X with all he had.

"Hahaha…HAHAHA!" Double was moments away from stabbing his sword into X's buster. The Hunter panicked, shut the laser off, and started to run to the left while using the side of his buster to punch aside Double's sword. But in his panic he forgot the other blade, which broke through his attempted defense and stabbed him right in the chest, digging itself halfway in and allowing Double to hoist him right off the ground like a broken piñata.

"Kk…GAAAH!" X screamed and grabbed onto the top of Double's gauntlet, gripping hard enough to bend the metal. But none of that made the Maverick flinch, and his expression whipped into a state of sadistic frenzy as he had the Hunter right where he wanted.

"THIS is why your stupid naiveté makes you weak X! You always hold back, always trying to see the 'good' in all Reploids! But we're not 'good', hell, we're not even 'evil'! We're just who we are…Weapons built to kill and destroy everything in our sight! You think you're so high and mighty?! You think you're beyond us all?! It makes me SICK! You should've just accepted what you are from the very beginning, a weapon built for carnage and destruction!"

X gripped Double's arm for a few seconds more with pained grunts, but then he suddenly let go and drooped his arms at his hips. His hands clenched into fists, and with a grit of his teeth he closed his eyes and murmured with a tired voice "No…y-you're right…"

The left side of Double's face raised as he let out an intrigued "Eh? What did you just say?!" X explained to him in a docile, natural tone "E-Even I can't ignore it…I was built to protect the peace of the world…To bridge the gap between Reploids and humans…But I was given this arm buster, and the ability to copy weapons from other Reploids I touch…I-I am a weapon…"

"Yes…YES! That's right! You ARE a weapon! In your final moments, you acknowledge your hypocrisy!"

X knuckles cracked, and his right fist turned into a buster that he swung up pointed at Double's face with his expression one of pure determination. Double grinned and remarked with an aloof taunt "What? You're going to try and shoot me?"

"But I am not a weapon made to kill or destroy! Dr. Light gave me these powers to protect everyone, whether they be Reploids OR humans! He entrusted the future of this world to me, and he believed that, even with all this power, I would NEVER turn Maverick!"

The energies within X's buster whirred and spun around, building up to it's fullest degree of power. Double stared the light straight on, gritting his teeth and exclaiming "I was stupid to think you'd see things differently! It doesn't matter how weak or strong are you! A weapon is a weapon! NO ONE CAN CHANGE THAT FATE!"

He hoisted X higher, the blade digging deeper into his chest. X grit his teeth, bearing down Double's face without flinching even an inch. His eyes flared open, and he roared with all his might "I am more than just a weapon!"

He remembered the faces of all the people who trusted him to protect the world, many of them comrades both alive and gone. Storm Eagle, Dr. Cain, Alia, Iris, Colonel, Zero, and Dr. Light flashed on by amongst the crowd, but at the end of it all was a small blue robot with a similar framework to X's own, who gave glanced over his right shoulder and gave X an approving thumbs up.

The energy cascaded out from the tip of X's barrel, and Double let it rest before his face with a cocky smile as X continued his tirade.

"I…am a Maverick Hunter! I…AM MEGA MAN X! And a Maverick like you…" In a split second before firing X's body changed to a green and yellow palette, and as Double's face curled into a surprised scowl X fired the buster and let all his rage come bursting out "WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO DESTROY OUR WORLD!"

A violent cyclone ripped forth from X's buster and slammed Double in the face, tearing bits of the plating off and forcing his sword out of the Hunter's chest. Green energy whirled so fast at the center of the cyclone that it managed to drill through Double's waist while dragging him across the ground, while the sharp blades of wind on the edge ripped apart his gelatinous frame to the point of making the globs that fell off inert.

"Ghh…GHHH! H-How…?!" Double tried to stab his swords into the ground to save himself, but the winds just ripped into his arms and sliced the gauntlets clean off. He was forced upright, blasted back while his screams of pain were swallowed into the cyclone. X held his buster up, keeping at this attack until he had Double at the edge of the platform. His eyes stayed in a stern glare, and he fought to ignore the pain in his chest with all he had.

When X was done, there was little left of Double's gelatinous framework. His waist was unstable, his legs had been ripped to shreds, forcing him on the tops of his knees, and his arms were gone from the shoulders down. His face had been chipped away, revealing the chrome workings underneath along with a glowing red right eye. Double staggered on the edge of the platform, looking up at X with a rage and disgust he could not explain.

"How…How can a Reploid have so much power?!" He screamed from the top of his lungs as oil dripped between his fanged teeth. X pointed his buster at Double and answered him with confidence "Because I need this power to protect the world. It's over Double…You have lost."

Double scowled, his body trembled, while his mind wracked itself over the sheer impossibility of losing to an idealistic fool like X. But when he thought enough, his head bent down and he begin to laugh. It started slow and grim, but then he reared his head back and erupted into a cacophony of insanity.

X was perturbed, and kept his buster cocked at the Maverick. Double leaned forward, remarking in a gleeful manner as parts of his helmet began to chip off "Lost? LOST?! Yeah…Yeah yeah perhaps I have lost, but I'm the victor in the long term, X!" He swung his head up, the right side of his face slanting off from how unhinged he had become.

"You're still an idealistic fool! There is no such thing as a Reploid that can't go Maverick! One day, you'll see, you'll see that I was right…That none of us can escape our fates as weapons! And by the time you do…By the time you become the very thing you've sought to destroy…"

More of Double's helmet chipped off, revealing on a metal plate behind it a crooked, violet "W", and as X was frozen stiff at the presence of that for reasons he couldn't fathom the Maverick delved into the deepest depths of insanity and yelled out "EVEN HELL ITSELF WON'T BE ABLE TO CONTAIN MY LAUGHTER! EHEHEHE…EHEHEHEHE!"

His body unstable, Double leaned back and threw himself into the abyss, where the fans below ended his laughter by tearing him to shreds. X winced as the Maverick underwent such a gruesome demise, but that was all the sympathy he'd offer that monster as his mind focused on other matters. Particularly, Double's final words.

"Could I…actually turn Maverick?" He looked down at his right hand, realizing that for all his boasting there was no way to confirm whether he was immune to being infected by the Sigma Virus. With that, it left the possibility open that Double was right, and that was a more bitter wound than the scar imprinted on his chest. X laid that hand on his chest, and though his mind was heavy he looked towards the door on the other side of the room and murmured "I can't think about this now. I need to find General or Iris before it's too late!"

His circuits fueled with valiance, X sprinted for the way out. But it didn't matter how fast he ran, for he was already too late to stop what was coming…

 _Next Time: What We Fight For_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Iris**

Flying into space, Zero was trying his hardest to focus on the Final Weapon far off in the distance. He was feeling distressed, and the last words he heard before leaving the planet continued to echo in his mind.

" _Take care of…Iris…ok, Zero?"_

" _GET AWAY FROM ME!"_

Colonel, even after all the bad blood between them over the course of this battle, entrusted him with Iris' fate. Yet, Iris now saw him as nothing more than a monster. Worst of all, none of the Repliforce Commanders, not even Colonel himself, had been infected by the Sigma Virus. What they did, they did of their own free will.

"No, that can't be right…" Zero grumbled. He wanted to deny what happened as much as he could. It was just impossible to believe that there wasn't someone behind all this. Then, that was when Zero realized something.

There WAS someone behind it all. The leading man behind the entirety of Repliforce, and the one who instigated this rebellion in the first place.

"General…" Zero slowly said his name and grit his teeth in anger. He grasped the handles of his steering wheel and pieced everything together. General gave all the orders, he made all the plans, he was the first one who went to the Final Weapon, sacrificing Storm Owl and Colonel just so he would have a chance to escape unharmed. This entire war, all the lives lost as a result of it, they were all on HIS head.

"Colonel, everyone else…They may not have been infected, but that doesn't make General innocent! It's all HIS fault that Colonel died." Zero pushed himself as hard as he could to make that sound rational, an effort that he subconsciously performed without realizing it. His emotions were running wild, his ability to perform his duties had been compromised, but in the emptiness of space he had no one to snap him back to reality.

With a fatalistic, iron focus towards the Final Weapon, Zero pushed the steering wheel in and pressed down on the thrusters to accelerate to top speeds so he can not waste another second getting to his destination. Now, in his mind, he was fighting for the sake of avenging the members of Repliforce that had been dragged down by General's absurd plans.

As he got close to the dangerous satellite, he was surprised to find that the turrets surrounding it were not active, but only for just a moment. He charged right towards the docking bay on the east side and breeched the barrier within. His ship spun around as he slammed the landing gear on the ground and applied the brakes as hard as he could. Sparks flew up in a wave and Zero wasted no time barreling out of the cockpit past through the sparks, his ship jerking to a stop inches away from the wall.

After a roll Zero was bent down and he drew his sword out, swinging it straight out far past the right side of his body while glancing around for signs of enemies. However, there was no one but him around. Standing up with a stern, narrow glare towards the door in front of him, Zero murmured "They haven't organized their defenses yet. Good, now's the time to take the fight to General."

He rushed for the door and sliced through it with one cut, sprinting down the hall as fast as he legs would carry him. He kept his sword at the ready, his grip tighter than the steel that composed the handle could withstand. Rounding corners, leaping over chasms and lifts, Zero didn't run into a single Repliforce soldier. He found that a little suspicious, but didn't care too much about it.

After about five minutes, Zero was nowhere closer to General than he was when he started. There were no maps, no indication if he had gotten deeper or farther away from his goal, nothing but the same aesthetically built hallways stood in his way.

"If their plan is to make me get lost while they prepare the Final Weapon, then they're doing a good job of that. There HAS to be some indication of where to go!" Zero yelled out to no one but himself, then after a brief pause kept running along with his frustration growing. He went down a hallway that passed by a certain door with a cut through it, but didn't hear the fighting going on beyond it.

In a matter of seconds, he rounded a couple more corners and found a door he hadn't seen before, dashing through it without another thought. The moment his feet stepped through, he froze in place and the grip on his sword loosened. Running down the hallway, without a shadow of a doubt, was Iris.

" _But I just saw her…"_ Zero stood with mouth agape and then shook her head, exclaiming at the top of his lungs "IRIS!"

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder, then bit her teeth down and dashed off faster than she was before. When she disappeared around the corner, Zero took off after her. He was able to catch up with her as his body was made to move faster. Soon enough, he was able to meet her in a large, empty rectangular room and swing his left hand up, declaring "Iris, stop!"

She did so in the middle of the room, her hands limp at the sides of her skirt. Zero sheathed his blade and tried to approach her, remarking in a docile tone of confusion and concern "What are you doing here? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Yes…" She murmured with a stoic, lifeless tone. Zero got behind her and raised his hand towards her shoulder. Trying to remain delicate, he asked her "Please, let me escort you back to my ship. You need to get back to HQ, there's nothing to gain from being here."

With a sharp twist of the body and a thrust of the back of her left hand, Iris smacked Zero's arm away and left the Hunter taking a couple steps back while rubbing his now sore wrist. With a grimace of his teeth he expressed his confusion "Ow…What the heck Iris?"

She hung her head, the eyes covered in a shade cast by her bangs. She held her trembling fists against her hips and grit her teeth, murmuring to Zero "Nothing to gain…H-How could you say that after what just happened Zero?!"

"My brother…my brother is dead! Impaled by YOUR blade!" All her fury and sorrow manifested in every word, and Zero could feel his innards clenching together as he heard them spoken. With only a minimal degree of empathy, he tried to apologize "Iris…I'm sorry about what happened with Colonel, but he left me-"

"No other choice? …Hmph, I knew you'd say that…" Iris brushed away what she considered a pitiful excuse and glanced to the left. She grumbled under an angered breath "You could have spoken to him…Tried to get him to stop this senseless fighting…"

"I tried to Iris, but he was too loyal to General's cause and he wanted to fight for y-"

"NO!" Iris swung her fists before her waist and shook them a few times, exclaiming in a fervent rage "Liar liar liar! If you actually tried to talk to him, t-then…WHY IS HE DEAD?!"

Zero couldn't finish what he wanted to say, Iris was overwhelming him with her uncontrolled rage "M-My brother…He's loyal to a fault, I always knew that from the moment we were split up from our original body…But the Colonel I know would have also listened to reason! B-But you didn't believe he could be reasoned with, could you?! To you, he was just another Maverick that needed to be hunted down and killed!"

She swung her head up, little droplets of water coming out from her eyes. Zero took another couple steps back, thinking to what he had said and what he had done in Colonel's presence. He stammered to her in denial "No…I-I…" but the violent manner of which that conflict ended refused to let him say anything but the truth. As he grabbed the side of his head with his right hand, Zero murmured "I-I did…kill Colonel…"

Iris stamped one foot forward and swung her right arm out, exclaiming with a tearful cry "All I wanted was for peace and understanding between all Reploids! I-I thought you cared about that goal Zero, that you understood me, that you were a hero…" She jerked her hand back against her chest, coddling the remnants of her broken heart in her cupped palms while murmuring "But you're not…are you?"

Zero couldn't even mutter a syllable. Iris' words hurt more than any attack he took on. It was more painful than the death he experienced once before. And worse of all, he couldn't explain why he felt this way. All he could do was stare into Iris' eyes and watch as she let her emotions continue to flood out.

"You're just like every other Hunter. All you want is to kill every Reploid that's labeled a Maverick. You're not capable of anything else Zero!" Iris then lowered her head and murmured "I-I'm defecting from the Maverick Hunters…S-So I guess that makes me a Maverick too now, doesn't it? Now, a-are you going to kill me too…Zero?!"

Zero shook his head and told her with all his honest "No, no I would never do that Iris! Please, you have to calm down." At that moment, Iris raised her hands up before her chest, and a glowing purple core appeared before her palms. She stared at it with a lifeless expression as it bathed her in it's shadowy light.

Zero grit his teeth and stepped back a little more, holding his arms up to cover his eyes. Iris's lips parted into a stoic smile, and she began to murmur in a melancholic tone "Long ago, my brother and I were a single entity. We were created to be the ultimate Reploid, a warrior with the ultimate power and a peace-loving heart. But the scientists could not bridge the gap between the two sides, and ultimately divided us in two. My brother inherited it's power, and I got it's heart…"

"It was said that…should one of us absorb the core of the other, we could become that ultimate Reploid again." The core she held began thumping, and she lifted her head up with a stream of tears flowing out of each eye. Her smile perked up just a tiny bit, but it was born of sadness.

"T-This is all that's left of him…of my brother…And now I will use his power to stop you Zero, and avenge him once and for all."

Zero grit his teeth and looked at the core. It was cracked, unstable, but Iris didn't seem to notice it as she closed her eyes and pushed it into her body. As her body levitated off the ground, Zero thrust his right arm out and exclaimed "Iris! STOP!"

The core was swallowed up into Iris' body, and the transformed occurred over the course of a few seconds. Her body was encased in a violet armor that resembled a Ride Armor, complete with a thick cylindrical arm cannon and triangular, aerodynamic wings. The armor had thicker plating than a Ride Armor, and to fully protect Iris a helmet with a single red eye in the middle of a three-pointed black figure appeared over her head.

She spread her wings and kicked up a powerful gale, looking Zero straight on with a glowing eye. Despite being a fusion of Colonel and Iris, the ultimate Reploid spoke with her voice, which came out as a light echo "Please brother, stay with me…"

Zero, with his right hand trembling, reached for his sword and clenched it tight. He grit his teeth and choked on his own breath, unable to pull the blade free from his back. Iris, with a silent propulsion system on her back, stayed hovering off the ground as she aimed her new cannon at Zero.

There was a pause before Iris said in a stoic voice "Goodbye…Zero" and activated the cannon. A perfect, cylindrical beam of purple energy fired forth at the speed of sound. With a frustrated growl, Zero drew his blade over his body and sliced at the center of the beam with all he had, diverting the energy around himself and causing both halves to bust through the corners of the room.

Panting, Zero looked up and exclaimed with a desperate tone "This isn't funny Iris! You have to stop now or that unstable core will destroy you!" Iris fired her cannon again without another word, forcing Zero to hop diagonally to the right before it wiped him out. He then broke into a sprint upon landing to get close to Iris, praying that he'd be able to break through the armor with a single slash.

Not only did his attack fail to do just that, but it didn't even leave a scratch. Instead, as Iris flew back higher into the air, the armor flashed and a pair of small oval shaped drones appeared from it. The drones flew at him at a sluggish pace, the ticking sounds they made suggesting they were miniature bombs. For now, Zero would just focus on Iris, who ducked forward and spread her wings to dive-bomb him with the velocity of a jet taking off.

She flew in an arc, rising up right as she was inches from the ground. There was enough space between her and Zero for him to leap back and avoid being rammed, but with a creak in her joints from fighting the pressure pressing against her Iris laid Zero's plans to waste by thrusting her left hand out and grabbing him by the neck.

Iris dragged Zero along until she had him slammed against the wall above the door they came in through, plowing an indent just deep enough that a little more pressure would break a hole in the wall. Electricity from the dented circuits underneath zapped Zero's body, and he fought to lift his left hand up to lay it atop Iris' wrist.

"S-Stop it…Iris." He tried to plead. Iris' eye trembled, and he gripped tightened as she asked "D-Did you stop with my brother…?" Then, she spun her body to the right and the joints in her arm cracked as she activated the thruster at maximum speed. In one short burst, she dragged Zero's body through the wall, tearing a cone-shaped gash into it until she was at the corner, where she pulled him out and threw him towards the drones she summoned earlier.

Zero rebounded off the drones with a gasp as his back touched them, and their beeps hastened until both drones blew up and sent the Hunter hurtling to the ground. Rolling along for a few seconds, his sword flew out of his hand and slid around far out of reach. When he stopped moving, Zero laid the tips of his fingers on the ground and tucked them in against his palm to push himself up, leaning his head back to see Iris raising her left hand above her head.

A hole opens in her palm, and from it Colonel's sword shot out for her to pluck firmly in her grasp. She swung it out and positioned herself to be facing Zero, thrusting herself forward and gripping the sword upside-down while raising it up ready to stab it down onto the Hunter's back. Zero rolled to the left, doing so many times so he could get to where his sword was while Iris stabbed the ground and vented her frustrations with an echoing grunt.

Zero got on his knees and picked up the sword in his right hand. Seeing Colonel's sword dug in so deep that only the handle was visible, the Hunter knew that Iris was serious about killing him. This wasn't a game for her. She would kill him, or die trying.

"Ghhh…!" Zero gripped his sword in both hands and held it out along the side of his face. He had no choice but to fight with everything he had, even if his foe was a comrade who had been with him through many trying times.

" _Zero, allow me to introduce you to your new navigator…My sister, Iris."_

" _I-It's an honor to m-meet you both, X and Z-Z-Z-Z…"_

Memories were drawn out against Zero's will, recalling his first meeting with the kind, timid Reploid. His head throbbed with a crippling pain, stunning him for a moment and allowing Iris to charge right at him while letting forth an anguished roar.

Composing himself, Zero grabbed his sword in both hands and met Iris' charge with all the strength he could muster, swinging hard enough to strike both the blade and Iris' armor. Though he once again failed to harm the armor, he managed to shatter apart Colonel's blade, leaving just bits of the handle in Iris' palm as she kicked her legs up and grinding to a stop.

Looking at the bits in her open palm for a few seconds, Iris crushed them tight and swung her arms back, letting out another angered roar before she spun right around. Pulling her fist back, she swung her cannon forward and fired a beam at Zero. The Hunter turned and raised his blade up horizontally, forcing his other hand against the back of his wrist so the energy wouldn't overwhelm his defense.

He moved the rest of his body around so he'd be in the perfect position to avoid being pushed back by the beam. He twisted his sword until it was vertical, keeping himself at a standstill. He had nothing to reflect the beam back, and a few drones released from his earlier attack were approaching at a rapid pace.

He had to think fast, but the pressure was making it difficult. Through the chaos that was his inner thoughts, Zero did figure out one idea. Though he could not reflect the beam, DIVERTING it was another matter entirely. Gripping his blade with a strength drawn from how much his life depended on his success, he slowly turned the blade around so the blunt side was at the forefront. Twisting it left, he caused the energy to spurt out and blow up the drones coming from that direction. He then did the same thing to the drones to the right.

He then leaped to the left and got out of the way of the beam with just a centimeter separating him from certain death. When the beam died out, Iris' body let loose steam from cracks, and a thick purple diamond rose up from the armor. It appeared to have a similar appearance to the core of Colonel that Iris fused with.

Zero looked up at it, realizing _"Ah, that's it! If I destroy that core, then Iris will be safe!"_ That was what he hoped for, even though a part of him was uncertain that it would work. He swung his sword around a bit and waited for Iris to make her next move, but was again assaulted by more memories of the past.

" _I wish we could save Mavericks, I wish we didn't have to fight, I wish Reploids and humans could just live together in peace…"_

The Hunter laid a hand on the side of his head, remembering that he had tried to make a vow many times to try and give peace a chance. But every time he gave it a shot he was forced to fight and kill those in his path anyways. Repliforce's greatest commanders and Colonel all died because they couldn't see eye-to-eye, and now it seems the same thing was happening with Iris. Zero was worried, scared almost, to even keep his blade raised against Iris, knowing that if he made one mistake the same thing could happen all over again.

" _No. It's not going to happen! I WILL save her!"_ Zero steeled himself with determination and exclaimed with all his might "You hear me Iris?! I don't care how much you hate me…Your brother entrusted me with your life before he died, so I will bring you back to Earth…No matter how many times you try and attack me!"

Iris raised her cannon at Zero and then let out a gasp, hesitating to fire as her head creaked and lowered. Electricity shot out across her body and forced her head up with the eye glowing bright enough to eclipse the darkness within, and she tearfully declared "I-It's too late Zero! I-I-If you're really sorry for my brother, then just let me stop you for good!"

She fired a beam straight at Zero, who held his sword at his hip and waited until the energy was mere inches from his face. He took in a deep breath and vaulted off the ground high above Iris. She stopped firing and took a couple steps back, watching as Zero plummeted straight at her with sword drawn behind his head. She zoomed to the left to avoid his brutal slash, but that was what he was waiting for.

Zero planned his attack to trick Iris into dodging so he could then part his sword-gripping right hand from the other and summon his electric whip, lashing it right up at the hovering core. With a mind of it's own, the core tried to join Iris but got a firm lashing across it's side, sending electricity crackling through it and making it wiggle it's way back above her.

Zero then dashed at Iris and swung his sword at her three times in quick succession, but she shifted her body around to avoid the attacks before trying to thrust her cannon into Zero's face. He swung his sword down in front of his body and summoned an icicle from the blade to better defend himself from the ensuing beam. He tried the deflecting trick again, this time aiming for the core, but Iris was better prepared for such trickery and stopped firing to throw her body up into the path of the diverted energy.

The armor flashed and called forth more drones, one of which Iris plucked out of the air and threw right at Zero. He back flipped right as it blew up on the ground, only for Iris to charge forward and plow her fist into his chest, putting a decent sized dent into it before blowing him back into the wall. His body left a thick indent, but he pulled himself free before the drones could home-in on him and explode.

Once on the ground, Zero looked at Iris' armor and recognized it's strength. Were it not for the damage to Colonel's core, Zero definitely would not have been able to put up the fight he has. Even X might not have been able to defeat this armor. But by a miracle of miracles, the damage had been done, and it was for the best that it had happened as now Zero could disable the armor and save Iris by destroying the core.

He charged forth again, stabbing his sword out into Iris' waist. The blade bounced off and made it flash, and a couple drones came out from the armor. She punched downward, Zero leaping onto the arm and using it to go straight for the core. The core flew up to avoid his upward slash, and he bit his lower lip as his body was cursed to fall by gravity's power.

But he looked down and saw the drones were right below him, and with quick thinking he pressed a foot down to set one of them off. His body felt the pressure of the blast and bits of his foot were chipped off, but he was able to go flying towards the fleeing core. He readied his sword to swing once more, but the core shone bright and met his attempted assault with a beam thicker than what Iris herself fired.

Zero was pushed towards the ground as he blocked the attack with his blade, but that left his backside exposed to Iris' own beam. Sandwiched between the energies, Zero's body succumbed to the great pressure applied by them for a few seconds. He struggled to keep a grip on his own consciousness until the energies parted, where then the core stayed floating right below the ceiling.

The sword held in his hand, Zero focused on the core and fought through the electricity spewing out from his right arm to throw the blade straight up. It sped through the air in a second, giving the core no chance to avoid being stabbed right through and pinned against the ceiling. The core gave off waves of static and started to malfunction, and in turn all functions ceased on Iris' armor causing her to drop to the ground and lean over with her body emitting an equal amount of static.

Zero closed his eyes, letting out a hopeful, satisfied chuckle as he fell towards Iris. Her armor broke down and began to self-destruct, releasing an explosion so massive that Zero was caught up in it and sent flying across the other side of the room, where the impact with the wall knocked him unconscious.

The world around him went black until he woke up a short, but undeterminable amount of time later. He found himself lying on the front of his body, with debris scattered all around the room. Not just bits of Iris' armor, but the ceiling and walls had been broke apart as well. With a slow grunt, Zero tugged at the ground and pulled himself up, and he was able to tell that bits of his armor were gone. The damage to his leg in particular left him limping forward with a hand held against his right hip as he looked around for any signs of Iris.

"I-Iris…Iris?" His voice was weak as he was in the midst of recovering from the blast. When he pulled himself over a chunk of the armor's chest he found Iris lying on the ground with eyes closed and her body in a battered state. Zero's chest tightened, and his energy returned full-force as he ran over to her and screamed her name in agony in hopes of waking her. When he was a couple steps away, Iris' eyes creaked open with her barely able to muster the ability to move her lips and turn her head to acknowledge him.

"Z-Zero…" He bent down to stay at her side, using one hand to lift her head up while the other supported her back. He begged of her "Iris, it's ok! You're free! I saved you, so please, hang on!"

"I-I told you…it's too late…Zero. Using my brother's core…I-it would have led to this whether you stopped me or not…" To Zero, Iris was speaking nonsense and he violently shook his head, exclaiming to her "No! Don't say that! I can take you back to Earth, t-they can repair you, and-"

Iris wobbled her left arm and pressed a finger against Zero's lips. His body shook, and Iris forced a smile to her face with eyes brightened by a subdued sense of happiness. She laid her hand down upon her chest and murmured "Zero…p-please…Don't kill General…W-We can…live in his world…a world where only Reploids exist…"

Zero's voice broke up as he had to remind Iris of a cruel reality "T-there can't ever be a world just for Reploids, it's only a fantasy Iris!" She closed her eyes a bit and admitted with deep regret "I-I know…But, I wanted to believe it…"

She tried to reach for Zero's face with her left hand again, but it was too weak to make it. Zero clasped the hand between both his own, the two of them trembling as Iris spoke her deepest desires to the one she admired most "I-I wanted to live in a world where only Reploids exist…With you."

Then and there, Zero understood why it hurt so much to feel betrayed by Iris, he knew the word that described the emotion that she felt towards him, and what he ultimately felt towards her. It was 'Love'.

"I-Iris, I…I-I'm sorry. I can't be sorry enough for what I've done. I-If I hadn't killed Colonel, t-then you'd…you'd…"

Iris, with a smile so microscopic, began to close her eyes and whisper one last time "I…forgive you…Ze…ro…" Her eyes closed and her head slunk to the side, her hand lying cold in Zero's grasp. The Hunter was alone, his body tearing itself apart with a madness born of loss.

Iris was dead.

Once again, Zero's actions didn't save anyone. Try as he might, all his efforts amounted to was the death of another comrade at his hands. But none of the deaths he caused were as painful as this one. All Iris wanted was a life of happiness and peace with him at her side, but instead she was forced to watch as her comrades were slaughtered, her brother slain by Zero's own hand. Her death was a slow, excruciating end to what had to have been an unbearable amount of suffering.

Zero gripped Iris' body and shook it, speaking her name out many times without a response while his voice grew more and more desperate until at the end it just broke. With a short, pitiful whisper of her name, Zero laid his head against hers and grit his teeth, while his mind broke in two.

He didn't know what to do now…

" _Continue to fight for the sake of peace between Reploids and humans…"_

" **There's no point…** _ **it's all a fool's fantasy…**_ **"**

" _Do it to honor Iris' memory…"_

" _ **IRIS IS DEAD"**_

" _Then make her fantasy a reality…"_

" **Why bother…** _ **When she'll never get to see it come true?!**_ **"**

" _Then do it because YOU want it…"_

" **I'm not capable of peace…** _ **I was always meant to be a weapon that kills and destroys…**_ **"**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHH!" Zero's scream ripped and echoed through the hollow corridors as he cradled Iris in his arms and rose to his feet. Alone, angered and confused, he begged with all he had to whoever was listening to free him from this painful nightmare.

"THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! THERE'S NO REASON FOR ME TO GO ON! What…WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?!" His tearful whimpers, his cries of anguish…No matter how much he wanted, they would go unanswered. On this day, the Zero that X knew died once more…And this time, he would never come back…

 _Next Time: A Leader's Regrets_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: General's Lament**

Everything was silent deep within the Final Weapon. The noises of battles occurring did not reach the ears of the lonesome General, who sat on a custom-made throne in a small, secluded room. Every square inch of his massive, golden frame was weighted with a melancholy emptiness as he gazed around the room and looked at several other chairs scattered about. He closed his eyes, and pictured his comrades taking their seats to have a meeting with him.

Colonel would have been at his side, as usual, detailing the progress report for the last week. There would have been talks of new Reploids coming onboard the Final Weapon to seek sanctuary, and new homes would have been provided for them using the spare space they could find in the satellite.

But General opened his eyes, and was greeted by the same emptiness and a terrible yearning for what could have been. His expression stayed stoic, yet one would be able to sense a bit of regret upon his cold exterior if they looked into his eyes. He gazed towards the ceiling and let out a deep sigh, his mind adrift in memories past.

" _Do you want us to double-check his specifications Doctor?"_

" _Not at all…khakhaKHAK! …He…he's ready to activate." General could recall the first moments of his life, the first noises he heard being that of the now deceased Dr. Cain and a Reploid scientist helping him out. His eyes opened slow, and the very moment he could move his hands he recognize how heavy they were. He looked down, seeing the proud doctor sitting in his rehabilitation chair with his weariness shown clear in his wrinkles and frequent age spots._

 _Even so, Dr. Cain crossed his arms atop his legs and rolled up to General's feet, lifting his head up to ask "How are you feeling?"_

" _I am…ok? Who are…you? What is this place…?" General's first words were as authoritative as they were in the present, but with a hint of confusion. Dr. Cain, with his rugged voice, carried an air of politeness around himself as he responded to each question all at once "I am Dr. Cain, and this is one of the last Reploid construction facilities in the entire world."_

" _Reploid…I am, a Reploid?"_

" _Yes…You are an advanced robot capable of thinking and feeling on the level of a human. Tell me, how do you feel right now?"_

"… _Confused…"_

" _Ah. That is normal for a newly functioning Reploid. But rest assured, you shall form your own identity in due time."_

" _Why was I created…Dr. Cain?"_

" _Why were you created?" Dr. Cain paused and had to think on that. It was the first and only time General could recall the doctor being surprised at something. When a few seconds had passed, Dr. Cain looked him in the eyes and said "Well, if you must know, it's to protect both humans and your fellow Reploids from danger."_

"… _If we can think…and feel…like a human, then aren't we one in the same?"_

" _If only it were that simple. Similarities can only take one so far. There are humans out there who fear the fact that robots could be made to behave like they do. But, even though they may fear you, my only wish is that every Reploid I've made does not turn that fear into their own hatred."_

"… _What happens to a Reploid that hates the humans?"_

" _They are branded a Maverick, and then are destroyed by the Maverick Hunters."_

 _General could recall, at that moment, experiencing fear for the first time. So newly born into the world, he was prone to the fear of death that it ended up affecting his development from then on. After what Dr. Cain had told him, General had but one response._

"… _I want to protect all Reploids and humans, Dr. Cain."_

" _Really? Such initiative for a brand new Reploid. I must say you are exceeding my expectations…" Dr. Cain rubbed his snow white beard and cracked a smile, then with a dry snap of his fingers he continued "Yes, yes I believe this will work quite well. I know just the perfect job for you. From this day forth, you shall be known as 'General of the Repliforce'!"_

General's memories were at an end around the time the door to his chamber was opened. He looked down, watching as X fell and landed atop the red carpet spread across the floor. The Hunter and him exchanged a short, personal glance before he slanted his brows and approached the center of the room. X wasn't even able to reach General's kneecap with how short he was, forcing him to raise his head a bit to continue meeting his eyes.

"Ah, so you are the first to arrive, X…" General spoke, his voice dragging at a slug's pace. X didn't raise his buster at the man as he would any other foe. He instead kept his hands at his hips and responded with caution "General, are you alone?"

"I am."

"So you haven't seen Iris onboard at all?"

Hearing that made General's expression turn sour, and he shook his head back and forth. X lowered his head and muttered a worried "Am I too late?" as the giant looked on at him.

"Colonel died in the line of duty…I can only offer my sympathies to the poor girl for having to deal with that burden."

X grit his teeth and clenched his fist, saying to him with a murmur of anger in his tone "General, this madness HAS to end. Enough Reploids have died because of this coup!"

"Indeed. Both Reploids AND humans have perished. Yet, in the end, the majority of those deaths are on my foolish, foolish head…" General closed his eyes and leaned back in his throne, inquiring to his irked company "Tell me X…Do you ever dream?"

X's expression eased a little to become one of confusion, and he pulled his body upright while muttering "N-No, I can't say I have…" General cupped his hands around the ends of his throne's arms and looked towards the ceiling, his gaze projecting a person deep in reflection.

"There was a time where I once dreamed…Dreamed of a world where Reploids and humans could co-exist in harmony, free of war, free of corruption via the Sigma Virus, both races seeing each other as equals without peer."

"Was it wishful thinking, or a foolish indictment to a tiresome war…Even I no longer know the difference between the two. All I know now is that what was once a pleasant dream has been replaced with a frightening reality, and I have no one to blame for that but myself…"

"Maybe that's true General, but you're not entirely to blame. There was a Maverick who had framed the Repliforce for the attack on Sky Lagoon!" X's words did reach the General, but were not strong enough to do anything more than make his sighs deeper. General closed his eyes and replied "And what does it matter if it was the fault of another?"

"…Maverick Hunters and Repliforce…Were we not created to recognize and dismantle Maverick operations before they happen? If I did not perform my duty to the best of my ability, then I am just as much of an accomplice to the crime as the Maverick in question."

X, for all his ability to understand others, could not comprehend the guilt General was feeling. All he was able to muster was the patience to stand there and hear the Reploid out as he expressed every single one of his thoughts.

"I had been taken in by the allure of peace, X. When we had discovered the source of the Maverick uprising all those months ago, I believed with all my heart that we would soon bring an end to this cruel, cruel war. Yet, I was blind…Blind to the fear in the hearts of all humans. That was something that not even peace could extinguish, no matter how much I wished otherwise."

"…I should have taken that man's words to heart sooner than I did. Perhaps if I had, my comrades would have lived to sit beside me one last time." General then opened his eyes and looked down at X, who laid a hand on his chest and recalled the lives he had taken to stop this war from escalating out of control. He now carried the powers of all of General's fallen comrades sans Colonel inside of his body, and upon hearing the man speak of his allies with such genuine heart X's body tightened with an overwhelming guilt.

"But I digress, X…The time for words has long passed, hasn't it?" General's blunt comment came with a raise in his aggression. X broke free from his guilt and swung his right hand up, exclaiming with a seething curiosity "Wait General, answer me this first…Why did you choose to take control of the Final Weapon?!"

The giant leaned back for a moment and reflected upon the question for but a few swift seconds, upon which he delivered an answer in a melancholy tone "After that all has occurred, I came to a realization…If there can be no peace between humans and Reploids, then it was for the best if all Reploids left the planet entirely. The Final Weapon is big enough to house the entire populace of Reploids on Earth after it has been given a few modifications, so it was our plan to one day migrate them all to here."

"The matter of using the weapon itself as a deterrent was all Colonel's idea, but I shall admit I never had any intention of using it myself. In fact, I have sealed the 'Bassnium' away in a secret location on this satellite, where no one will ever find or use it."

"Then…does this mean you surrender, General?" X held back his surprise due to the warning his body was giving him. General closed his eyes and replied "My comrades are dead…My home, lost to me forever. All I have left is my body…and my fool-hearted ideals."

Pushing his lumbering mass off the throne, General stood tall over X and held his fists tight beside his face. X took a couple steps back and exclaimed "There's no reason for us to fight General! If you surrender-"

"I will be destroyed all the same. At least this way, I will have the honor of perishing at the hands of a brave Hunter such as yourself, X. It is a truly a pity that I was never able to convince the doctor to let you be a part of Repliforce. Perhaps with your council, our paths would have strayed towards a different future…"

X's body shook, his teeth grit in anger, but he swung his buster up towards General and exclaimed with all he had "Then I will honor your last request General, and give you everything I've got!"

"Thank you, X. However, make no mistake…I may have failed as a leader…" From the back of his elbows a pair of jets released a burst of energy that shattered his throne to crag and shook the entire room, blowing X back a couple of feet from the gale kicked up. General's eyes flared open, and with a booming voice he declared "But I shall hold nothing back…AS A FIGHTER!"

General raised his right fist and it fired off via a rocket attached to the back of his wrist, where it flew down and crashed against the ground where X leaped away from. The knuckles cracked the ground and shook the room, dislodging dust from the ceiling. X landed with buster aimed and charged, where he then fired a shot right at General's face.

The blast roughed his focus for a moment, but only chipped off a bit of his paint. General called his fist back with the help of the spherical blue magnet attached to his limb. He then swung that limb out and a few blue diamonds of energy shot forth from his body and dove straight towards the area X stood at.

X hopped back onto the wall and used it to get to a high elevation while the diamonds stabbed into the ground and faded from sight. When he was lined up with General's head, X charged up energy and fired off a massive cyclone. General used his jets to lift off the ground while lining his left fist dead center with the oncoming gale, firing it out and setting the booster on the back of it to full power so it'd be able to press through the cyclone.

X dropped from the wall a second before the fist plowed into it, the tremor throwing him off and making it so he'd drop flat on his face. He pushed himself back up in a couple seconds while General was crossing the room with the help of his jets. As he cast his shadow over X, General's weight threatened to crush him like pancake. It was only through a quick activation of his boots that X was able to get out of the way in time.

He then spun around and fired a pair of Twin Slashers at General's exposed back. The slicing force of the crescents was enough to cut the thick armor, but only as far as one centimeter in. X went upright and kept firing a few more attacks while General turned himself around, sending out some more of those diamonds in the process. X used his boots to glide around the floor, the diamonds coming within centimeters of his body.

Soon X was backed up to the wreckage of the throne and made a hop on top one of the larger rocks, lining his buster up with his face and trying to scan General for weaknesses. He was bigger than the average house, but with a durability that could rival the toughest tanks. He didn't seem to have an obvious weak point, meaning X had no choice but to just throw everything he could and hope he could break his defenses.

General fired another fist off as X switched to the Ground Hunter. Instead of dodging the fist, X chose to leap on top of it the moment it crashed down, using it as a platform upon which he'd fire those stingray bombs at the ground and hope they'd be able to reach General's feet. But the man had seen many tricks like these in his lifetime, especially from his own men, and was already levitating off the ground before X had even launched his attack.

X grit his teeth, but despite figuring out how General would react decided to try one more attack he gained from Repliforce. He switched to the Frost Tower and charged it's power, slamming his hand down on General's fist to summon a series of towering icicles from the sky. General looked up and murmured "Interesting…" before calling his fist back with X still on it.

X flipped back and watched a General swung his fists up like a pair of hammers, smashing the ice as though it was a fly in his way and leaving not even the dust in the air. Using his boots to suspend himself, X changed to the Electro Web and charged it up, firing a wall of those webs towards General.

The Reploid's body was consumed by a high-voltage shock that lit the room up with a blinding flash, yet through the grunts of pain General pulled his arms apart and snapped the webbing off with a firm, long grunt. Despite how easy it seemed for him to pull it off, X saw that it did seem to damage his body a little. Trying that type of attack again right away would only get it brushed off, so for now the Hunter had to land on the ground and await his next chance to strike.

General threw another volley of a dozen diamonds at X, making him leap back. As the Hunter dropped to the ground and was certain to land, General dropped from the sky with the force equivalent to dynamite and cracked the floor apart, sending a wave of fire flying right at X. Eyes flushed with the sight a crimson blaze, X swung his arms up to protect himself while some of the flames washed over him and the rest worked to push him back.

General fired one of his fists at X while he was under pressure, ensuring a clean hit that clobbered X right into the wall behind where the throne once stood. X's eyes were forced shut from the impact and he dropped to the ground bent down. His body jerked on it's own as he stood up, watching as General fired a pair of rings from the magnetic orb.

These flew out faster than the diamonds, and gave X only a couple seconds to charge up energy in his buster and fire it through the rings. General moved his head to the left enough for the edge of the sphere to graze him, followed by him calling the fist back onto his limb. He then looked at X and remarked with pride "Your reputation is no mere exaggeration, X. I see now why Dr. Cain had faith in you."

"You knew Dr. Cain?" X said with surprise, to which General nodded his head and replied "He is my creator."

"…I don't believe that he would have been ashamed of you, even after all this." X had confidence in his reassurance, with General closing his eyes and murmuring "He always was a forgiving man. I miss him so.."

"So do I, General…" X and General took a moment from their fevered battle to pay respects to the man who had guided them into this world. Even with all the terrible times that had befallen it, he had stayed vigilant in his faith towards those he created.

When the two were done, General was the first to raise his fist towards X and set it loose. X hopped off the ground and used the back of the wrist to launch himself towards his enemy. He pulled back on his buster and fired a charged shot right into General's chest, pushing himself back before the Reploid could fire a couple rings in his path. The charged shot put a dent in General's armor, but it was only a couple inches deep.

X then glanced to the right as he fell and noticed how vulnerable the magnets looked compared to the rest of General's body. He gripped his buster and landed on the ground, ducking as the fist was dragged back to it's owners limb. Charging a shot, X tried to fire it at the exposed magnet before it clicked the fist back into place, only for General to thrust his hand up at the last second with a surprised look in his eyes.

General then swiped his right hand out and sent out a dozen diamonds while pushing himself off the ground. He got to firing more diamonds out than he was before, keeping X on his toes as he dashed back and forth across the room with the help of his boots to avoid all the attacks. General fired both his fists down and broke a large chunk of the ground, shaking the room hard enough with a shockwave that X was thrown towards the wall.

Putting his thrusters at full power, X fought against the force and repelled off the wall, then changed to the Electro Web ready to fire a couple at General's exposed magnets. But strategic as he was, the Reploid was able to employ new plans of attack on a whim and both pulled and opened his fists to clasp X together between the palms.

Such crushing force disrupted X's focus and got him squirming to break free, fighting through the cracking of his innards while General raised both palms and prepared to drop him to the ground with a piledriver. Forcing the buster out even in these conditions, X aimed for the exposed right magnet and fired a charged shot. General pulled his hand back right away and swatted the charged shot with a flick of the wrist.

As X fell he knew for certain that he had found his opponent's weakness. But before he could take aim at the other magnet, he had to deal with the left hand coming down to squish him flat on the floor. The Hunter flipped back and only had the front of his helmet bumped by one of the fingers, which dropped him to the ground faster than he was expecting. His legs pressed down, the joints giving way, but he sprung back up with buster jerked back and energy charged bright in the barrel.

General began to pull the hand off the ground, but X had his own brand of cunning to rely on and not only switched to the Frost Tower power but disabled the charged shot entirely. He dropped the thick icicle towards the hand and managed to pierce it to the point of pinning it to the ground. General widened his eyes and watched as X landed atop the icicle, holding his buster back at his hip and preparing a more genuine charged shot.

The shot came forth faster than the speed of sound, and General was a millisecond away from having his magnet broken were he not able to smack the charged shot away with his other hand. General then stamped the ground and sent a wave of fire as big as half the room towards X. The Hunter vaulted off the soon to be melted icicle and watched as General slowly pulled that broken hand back to him.

X hovered above the flames and aimed his buster at the exposed magnet, changing to the Electro Web and shooting one precise web straight into the magnet. It short-circuited the instant it connected, and the broken hand collapsed to the ground as General turned around. X, with some slick maneuvering of his feet, spun himself around and aimed his buster at the exposed magnet with energy charged.

"It's over, General!"

He took the shot without a hint of hesitation, and it struck the magnetized limb with all it had. General's expression grimaced in pain and he grunted, trying to press against the charged shot to deny its overwhelming power. But in a matter of seconds, the front of the magnet was shredded apart, and the charge shot ripped up the rest of the limb and caused a feedback of General's own energy that made the entire left side of his body get consumed in explosions.

His arm and leg were blown apart, and the rest of his body was left cracked and scuffed with ashes from the scathing explosions. His body crashed against the back of the wall in recoil and blew a large chunk of it out while also dislodging some of the panels from the ceiling. X landed and watched as General still stood on his other leg with the help of his jets, his body circulating with electricity.

Even with his frame in ruins, he stood tall and proud and stared at X with burning determination. He would fight to his last nuts and bolts, even if there was no chance whatsoever for victory. X hesitated for a second and gripped his buster tight around his left hand, but then he thrust it up and prepared to gather energy within.

But then, not just the room, but the entire Final Weapon began to quake to such a degree that even X wasn't able to keep his footing without the help of his magnetized boots. He lowered his buster and looked around, yelling out to General beyond the sounds of engines whirring to life "What's the meaning of this?!"

General's stare went blank with fright, and he exclaimed with the utmost confusion "I-Impossible! The Final Weapon is being activated?!"

"What do you mean?! This isn't your doing?!"

"No! Someone else must have found the 'Bassnium' supply somehow and has turned the weapon on! Ghhh, our battle will have to wait X!" General pushed himself a bit to the right and tilted his body at the hole behind him, exclaiming with urgency "Go this way! It should lead you to the core! Shut it down before it's too late, X!"

X lowered his buster and gave a firm nod of the head, then dashed across the room to go the way General suggested, giving him just a brief, concerned glance as he did so. When X was out of sight, General's jets gave out, and he collapsed in a metallic heap against the corner behind him. Letting out a heaving sigh, he looked towards the ceiling and murmured "…Yet another mistake of my own creation. Forgive me, Doctor…"

But he would not be alone for long, as he heard someone landing on the ground near the entrance of the room and turned his head to face them. Limping forward in a zombie-like trance with sword loose in his right hand was Zero. The Hunter saw General in his sordid state and did his best to raise the sword up, murmuring in a broken, coarse voice "Y-You'll pay for this…A-All of them died because…because of YOU…C-Colonel…Iris…I-I-Iris…!"

General closed his eyes, and didn't bother with denial as he told Zero "Yes…Were it not for me, neither of them would be dead. You have every right to strike me down, Zero, I am in no condition to fight back…But, I believe you'd be better off assisting your friend in shutting down the Final Weapon. I have a feeling he'll need your help."

"X…w-was already here?" Knowing that seemed to snap Zero back to reality for just a moment. He closed his eyes and with a melancholy posture he began to make his way for the other side of the room, swearing to General "I'll be back for you later."

"…Assuming I live that long to see you again…" General closed his eyes, but before Zero passed him by he had one final thing to say "I am sorry for what happened with Iris…I always thought her and I shared a vision of peace…"

Zero stopped and clenched his sword tight to the point of cracking the knuckles, then he swung his head back and yelled out in a gravely offended tone "Peace?! Don't you dare use that word in front of me! IRIS was selfless in wanting peace…You just wanted peace for yourself and no one else!" With that scathing retort, Zero wasted no more time with General and dashed down the hall in pursuit of his friend.

General, now alone once more, found himself taken aback by Zero's remark. Lowering his head so the chin was on the neck, he murmured "…Perhaps…you aren't wrong…"

 _Next Time: Undying Hate_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Judgment Day**

X ran with a great haste through the halls of the Final Weapon. The way to the core offered no detours, and the walls got even thicker with wires that stretched and twisted from place to place. There was no time for him to stop, not even to process his own thoughts. The tremors that rocked the satellite occurred at a more frequent and harsher rate the closer X got to the center, but seconds before reaching the last door in his path they stopped all at once.

X took his only pause then and there, laying a hand atop his buster and catching his breath. Calming himself with a gulp, he raised the buster at the door and prepared to walk in. He had no idea who the enemy was responsible for activating the cannon. All of Repliforce's main officers were already dead back on Earth, and General denied involvement in using it.

There were no lies in General's words, X wanted to trust him on his honor instead of believing he would have gone Maverick. Yet, at the same time, he was the only one who had any contact with the 'Bassnium' after it left Colonel's possession.

" _No."_ X shook his head and cleared his head of clouded thoughts, then remarked in a tone of certainty "General would never fire the Final Weapon."

" _Hahaha! Are you sure about that?! All it takes is one betrayal from those they've sworn to protect, and even the most hardened and proud Reploids can turn Maverick!"_ A deep, graveled voice left cackles echoing throughout the hall, freezing X's legs and forcing his buster towards the air. Before the door, a phantasmal presence fizzled into existence and levitated off the ground, wearing a tattered brown coat and peering through the shadows of their hood with squinted orange eyes.

X aimed the gun down and exclaimed "Who are you?!" while pointing at the person's face. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this person before. The person drew their thick, steel hands from the cape along with the handle to a weapon. A pole extended from it as the person gripped it in both hands, and with one swing over their left shoulder the pole summoned a long, thin yellow scythe blade.

" _I am your lingering failures given birth again, X. And I have returned to claim vengeance upon you and all the arrogant humans that you've sworn to protect."_

"What? What are you talking about? I'll ask you again, who are you?!" X said, vehemently ignoring the person's ambiguity. The breadth of the hood widened as though the figure underneath was smiling, and he drew back towards the door while whispering _"If you wish to know, you only need to follow, X!"_

The person phased through the door as though they did not exist in this world. With a shiver beyond his control trembling throughout the body, X dashed for the door and it opened in his presence. Through it, the temperature rose to boiling levels thanks to the presence of the super-heated core to the left. X glanced over and saw the diamond shaped 'Bassnium' being processed by the flames of a skull-shaped, grotesque broiler.

It was impressive that the heat got to X from here considering the room was larger than a few city blocks and there was a thin layer of glass between the core and him. He stood on an observation deck and looked out to see the cloaked phantasm floating at the other side. The person's appearance phased in and out of existence, but the scythe they held stuck to them.

" _He's not a ghost…Couldn't be. He has a Reploid's hands."_ X aimed the buster at the person and said "Stop playing around! Who are you, and what is your connection to Repliforce?!"

" _Hehehe…I'm disappointed you don't recognize me, X. As for my connection to Repliforce well…I guess you could call them my 'Pawns'."_

"I don't have time for your games, Maverick!" X formed a charged shot at the tip of his buster and let it loose, only for it to pass right through the figure's body and blast a hole in the wall. Lowering his smoking buster, X's mouth went agape and the figure grinned a grin that broke through the shadows.

" _Games? Yes…I guess you could call this a game, X. A game of life or death with the entire fate of humanity at stake, just like always!"_ The maddening glee of the person reverberated through their cloak, putting a bitter scowl to X's face. He swung his arms out and clenched a fist before his chest, exclaiming with his face contorting with righteous fury "Fine! I don't care who you are! I will not let you destroy our world!"

" _Hahaha! There's that fighting spirit! Come…Let our battle resume!"_ The figure swung his scythe twice out, sending waves of slicing energy flying straight at X. The Hunter hopped on alternating feet to avoid the attacks, getting closer and trying another charged shot only for his foe to fly to the right and perform one complete spin to slice through it.

X got underneath the figure and tried to fire from there, but they just let the shot fly through their body and then sliced their scythe down at the ground. The blade ripped a scar in the ground was it was dragged towards X, who flipped back and decided to switch to another weapon. The all-encompassing power of a tornado came flying out after a momentary charge, but even swallowed up into it's gale the figure didn't even flinch.

X spun back upright and used his boots to kick back to the other side of the room, where he cocked the buster beside and thought _"What kind of technology is this? I've never heard of anything like this on a report before…"_

The figured turned around and hoisted the scythe over their left shoulder, trying to frighten X by telling him _"What's the matter X? Having difficulty facing a ghost?"_ It proved effective, as for a second the Hunter stuttered and then grit his teeth.

" _There's no such thing as ghosts! Once I piece together your secret, I'll expose you for who you are Maverick!"_ X's hand trembled on his buster, and with a slight sensation of hesitation he looked into the eyes of the figure and found himself disturbed for reasons he couldn't explain.

" _But…have I seen this Maverick before? There's something…familiar about his voice."_ X aimed the buster steady before his chest and awaited the figure's next move, which was to throw a couple more waves right at him. X countered with his own waves from the Twin Slasher, then watched as the figure evaded them.

" _Wait a minute…Their cloak!"_ X jerked back on his buster and switch to Magma Dragoon's weapon, then broke into a breakneck dash across the ground until he was underneath the figure, where he fires a plume of flames up into their body.

The figure's teeth could be heard scraping together as they flew to the other side of the room, their cloaked buried in flames. They turned around and lowered to the ground, the shadows under their hood fading to begin revealing his grinning face.

"Heheh…Clever as always, X. A pity though…" With the echoes of their voice fading, the person gave one hard swing of their right arm and brushed the flames off his cloak, turning it into a tattered cape that draped behind his now revealed body. X cocked his buster but only made it half to the center of his chest before his face froze in an expression of sheer surprise.

Standing before him was a foe both familiar and accursed, a Maverick who by all means should have been dead. No, it was someone X WANTED to be dead after all the pain and suffering he's inflicted upon the world. With his hateful hollow black and blue eyes and jagged flesh scars on his bald-headed face staring him down, X's courage began to waver, and hesitation crept on him like a fatal rust. The Maverick grinned and stood proud before his mortal foe, declaring with the utmost glee "That you just weren't clever enough to piece the whole thing together!"

"I-Impossible…" X took a couple steps back until his back was against the door, and with the grip loosening on his buster his perception of reality became twisted. The body of the Maverick was different from the last time X saw it, having shoulder plates with a pair of talons sticking out of each and the whole reaper motif in general. However, their frame was the same, and that face could not be questioned. But…

" _This IS my way of ridding the world of Sigma! I can only destroy him if I keep him within my body like this, burying him within the explosions of my own town!"_

Doppler's final words were burned into X's mind, as were the explosions that scorched even the land around the town he made. Nothing survived that event. Nothing COULD have survived that. X swung his buster right out at the Maverick, reacting out of a deep-rooted rage and fear at the supposed pointlessness of Doppler's sacrifice.

"How?! How are you still alive, Sigma?!"

"Hahaha…My dear X…As though I could **ever** die to some second-rate doctor's pathetic efforts!" Sigma proclaimed with callous gusto, and after swinging his head around X exclaimed in turn "I watched you burn in the fires of Doppler Town! There should be nothing left of you!"

Planting the bottom of his scythe on the ground, Sigma gestured his other hand towards the Hunter and answered him "It is a miracle that I survived. All that remained was a single hand for me to possess. But for someone like me, that was more than enough. After days of agonizing crawling, I managed to hide myself away and slowly create a new body to inhabit."

He tightened the grip on the weapon's handle to the point of cracking his knuckles, remarking with a more scornful voice "And with this new body of mine, I shall continue my mission to eliminate humanity and take revenge upon those who have stood in my path to rule over a Reploid world!"

"Grrr…It doesn't matter if you've come back Sigma! I'll still never let you achieve your goals!" X exclaimed, the fire of determination in his heart set ablaze once more, something Sigma was all to happy to try and put out.

"But X, it's only thanks to you that my goals came to fruition this easily!"

"What?!"

"Though I should give credit where credit is due…You ALL made it easy for me. The Maverick Hunters, Repliforce, humanity…ALL of them contributed to giving me control of this ultimate weapon!"

"Explain yourself!" X demanded to know as Sigma's grin rose. The Maverick lowered his hand and began to detail his plot.

"All of you, so drunk on your so-called 'peace', were so to turn against one another. All it took was one cataclysmic incident and a little framing behind, and I was able to turn the two greatest Reploid forces against each other without having to lift a finger!"

"What do you mean?!"

"Why X…Don't tell you've already forgotten your old friend Magma Dragoon?" Upon hearing that, X's mouth went agape with a gasp and he was at a momentary loss for words.

"T-That was you? YOU made him commit those crimes?!"

"Of course…After all, he was infected with MY virus. But of course, none of this wouldn't have possible if the paranoid shambles of humanity didn't behave exactly as expected of them! See, a fool he may have been, but Colonel was right in his beliefs. Humanity does not answer to reason. They believe only in acting on their basest fears, and will demonize any who they perceive to be a threat."

"And those are the kinds of people YOU wish to defend, X? A race that, at any given moment, could turn their backs even on you?" Sigma poised a question to him, trying to tempt him to his side with an open hand. X lowered his head and looked aside, then after a few seconds he closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

"Face it X. That infinite potential of yours is being misused as a weapon for the humans to exploit. You ARE the future of our world, an ideal that all Reploids only WISH they could achieve. Even I will admit to being a little envious of your power."

"…Humans do make mistakes, and it's true that some of them have acted on fear and hatred towards Reploids…" With a slow blink, X stiffened his eyes into a burning glare and swung his buster up at Sigma's face.

"But they also have the capacity to learn and get stronger, just like Reploids can! So long as they have that potential, then I will put everything on the line to protect them from Mavericks that would seek to destroy them!"

"…Hmph. It's pathetic, really…All that power, all that potential…Wasted on a flimsy, misguided view of 'justice'." Sigma shook his head and then cracked a grin, swinging his scythe blade at the Hunter and exclaiming "But how long would you be able to keep that idealism up if I were to tell you the truth behind the Maverick Virus?!"

"There's nothing you can say that will make me turn against humanity, Sigma!"

"Really? Not even if I told you that humanity themselves created the Maverick Virus?"

"You're lying!"

"For what reason would I have to deceive you now? The truth is far more frightening than any lie I could possibly conceive!" Sigma's insistence on the matter made X take pause, which gave the Maverick the perfect opening to continue his tirade.

"There was once a scientist that lived in this world a hundred years ago. He was a genius beyond compare, even greater than some of the scientists who live in this world today, in fact! But his work was shunned by the community in favor of his supposed equal, who at the time was his best friend. Eventually that shunning bore the seeds of jealousy within that scientist, and he strove to prove himself superior to his 'friend'."

"But that scientist could never win, and humanity continued to hate him more and more as time passed. Eventually, what was born as jealousy grew into an uncontrollable rage, leading the man to make two final creations out of desperation. One was the Maverick Virus, and the other was his greatest robot…Who could carry his legacy into the future, and one day awaken to bring judgment upon the humanity that had denied his brilliance."

"You see X, that is the Maverick Virus' true essence…That man's hatred and jealousy pooled into a singular, viral entity, and like the rage that consumed him that virus will continued to fester and grow until it has wiped the world clean, returning it all back to **zero**!"

"Of course…that's assuming that I don't finish humanity off first." Sigma cracked a wily grin and pulled his scythe back, while X staggered to come up with any rebuttal to the truth about the Maverick Virus. Sigma faced his foe and exclaimed with excitement "So if you still wish to be humanity's champion, then defeat me once more, the harbinger of their end!"

Sigma flipped his scythe around and threw it straight at X, where it spun with the speed of a set of blender blades. X dashed forward and to the right, swinging his right buster out and preparing a charged shot as he glances back and sees the scythe pin to the door. Sigma swung his arms out and his eyes glowed, with him firing a pair of lasers into X's chest in a millisecond.

The Hunter flinched but held his ground, responding with a body-sized charged shot as he braced his feet hard on the floor. Sigma shifted his weight to the right and the charged shot only grazed his body, followed by him snapping his right fingers and setting off an electrical discharge from the scythe blade.

A sharp bolt traveled across the ground and hit X at his heels, stiffening him with a paralyzing shock. Sigma sprinted in and grabbed X by the neck, cracking a brief grin before turning around and slamming him against the ground. Then he thrust his hand forward and sent the Hunter flying to the other side of the room, where his head hit the wall with a painful impact that jerked his mouth agape.

X recovered fast and slammed his left palm against the ground to prop himself back up, thrusting his buster back out and firing the charged shot he had built up. Sigma pulled his right hand back and called his scythe into his grasp, slicing the air before him with one sudden, hard swing to split the projectile asunder.

"You've already fought so many foes before getting here X. Storm Owl, Double, General…Even you don't have the capacity to keep fighting forever." Sigma pointed his weapon at X and with a disjointed grin nudged him with fervor "So why don't you get angry and use that power you used to defeat me the other times? It is your only chance for survival, X."

X responded by charging energy in his body and unleashing the amplified Frost Tower onto the battlefield. Sigma looked up as a circular shadow was cast over his body, and with an impressed grin he stabbed his scythe up to stab through the giant icicle. Then a couple more icicles came crashing down and covered the area in a layer of frost.

The heat would melted that down in a matter of seconds, but X would work even faster to put his plan into action. Through the frost he saw the shadows of Sigma holding his weapon up, the Maverick being cautious for his foe's next move. X kicked his boots into overdrive and sprinted across the room in a second, thrusting his buster up to slam the bottom of Sigma's wrist as he attempted to swing his scythe down.

X's legs pushed back until he magnetized them to the ground for support, and with teeth grit the Hunter kept that arm up while Sigma reached for his head with the other. When the fingers wrapped around his helmet and started to crunch it, X fired off an Electro Web and tugged down to stretch it out to the ground so Sigma wouldn't be able to use it for the moment.

Sigma's momentary surprise allowed X to wrench himself free from his grip and leap back, where he swung his right arm out and fired a charged shot into Sigma's chest. The Maverick's plating was grinded down by the projectile, but he held his ground and let his plating be left as a smoking crater just so he can retaliate with greater ease.

With a haughty grin, the Maverick's shoulders unlocked with a hiss and those "talons" launched out and revealed themselves as boomerang blades. Three flied out and sliced into the sides of X's arms and legs, while the fourth made a sharp U-Turn to the Electro Web and slice it apart. When his blades were called back to Sigma's shoulders, he threw his scythe out in a horizontal spin.

X crossed his arms and let the scythe grind against them and push him back until he could bring one fist down and summon a smaller Frost Tower to knock the scythe towards the ceiling. Sigma leaped up and wrenched the scythe over his back, dropping down with a hard cleave that can split even diamond in two.

X rolled back as his protection shattered, but Sigma countered his movements by pulling his scythe and rolling it straight after him. The blades were but a millimeter from X's face by the time he made the leap to the right. He swung his buster out and fired some Ground Hunters at Sigma's feet. The Maverick called his weapon back while sprinting away, and with a few swift slices he dealt with the rolling bombs with minor scuffing on his weapon.

X whipped out his second buster and used a constant onslaught of Twin Slashers to try and overwhelm the Maverick's defenses. Sigma swung his scythe out in a flurry, deflecting every attack with blinding speeds. He thrust his scythe out and the handle detached to extend the length, bringing the blade behind X's neck. The Hunter flinched and ducked in the nick of time, then thrust forward until he was even with Sigma's waist.

He rose up and threw two punches at Sigma's chest while firing out a plume of fire. The metal heated up with ease thanks to the temperature already prevalent, and afterwards X made a quick shift to the Frost Tower and leapt back to create an icicle he held in both hands. He threw it at the heated surface of Sigma's body to cool it down in an instant.

That part of the body was weakened, and Sigma grunted while making a hard swipe at X with the scythe. X flipped back and laid a hand on the ground to hold off until he could predict the path of Sigma's next attack. But though he managed to avoid it, Sigma's boomerang blades followed right after and sliced into more of his body. Earlier wounds got deeper cuts and began to reach the wiring underneath.

X's ability to stand staggered a little, and Sigma rushed in and made a heavy upward strike towards his chest. The Hunter leaned back best he could, but the scythe blade cleaved through the armor and nicked the actual plating of X's main body. The force of the blow pushed him back three feet, and though in pain X fired off a charged shot at the weak spot he created a moment ago.

Sigma didn't manage to swing his scythe down in time, and the charged shot crashed into his body and blasted a large hole through it. Though his innards were left hollow, Sigma was able to leap back as though he was still complete and throw his scythe right at X. The Hunter held his buster before his chest and charged energies within until he was able to launch a large tornado at the scythe.

With the help of that violent gale, X forced the scythe back to Sigma at double the speed, slicing off his right hand and breaking through the door. The tornado then kept going until it was held back by Sigma's open palm. The Maverick grunted as his joints cracked and split from the pressure.

Sigma looked ahead as X charged his buster to the maximum, the energy roaring out in a bright white flash. Exclaiming with all his might "It's over, SIGMAAA!" X fired a massive beam out from his buster, which jerked back above his head even as he stuck to the ground with the full force of his magnetic boots.

Sigma let out a tense, prolonged grunt as the energy washed over him and broke his body down to the very atoms that composed it. He didn't make a sound, and even if he did it would be drowned out by his destruction. The beam wiped out the door and left nothing behind of Sigma's body where he once stood. X lowered his buster and his knees bent down, but he stopped partway down and forced himself back up while gritting his teeth and making the occasional pant.

He didn't have time to think about Sigma's demise when the Final Weapon was still active, and he swung his head around the room for any signs of controls. There was nothing, not even a single "on or off" switch.

" _Ghh…! This is dangerous, but I have no choice!"_ He pointed his buster at the core, but the ground below him began to shake. It was nothing like the other tremors, as it was contained to his general area. He looked down and saw the floor cracking apart, and in his weakened state he wasn't able to leap away in time and plummeted into the core's basement.

The high heats didn't reach down this far. In fact, is was very cool down here. However, the tremors were violent as the core seemed on the verge of breaking down just to prepare itself to fire that world-wrecking laser. X caught his breath nice and slow, wondering what the heck was going on now. The answer arrived faster than he could blink, as a new body of Sigma's phased into existence before him.

It had a frame resembling a gigantic purple Ride Armor, only with a head that had Sigma's face plastered atop the oval-shaped hat on it's cranium and a lack of legs, which were compensated for by dozens of wires that were strung out to the wall in the back of the room. In his left hand was a thick barreled laser rifle that was pointed down at X, who was gritting his teeth and staring up at the monstrosity.

"Hahaha! You thought it was over X?! You should know by now that this rebellion of mine will never die, no matter how many forms it takes to succeed!" Sigma exclaimed, with X gripping his fists together and declaring "You'll never succeed Sigma! I WILL destroy you, no matter what it takes!"

But for all his boasting, X's could tell his body was weakening and he was barely able to stand. Yet Sigma still stood before him with all his power ready to go, and with the Final Weapon almost set to fire he had no choice but to fight, even if it meant his destruction…

 _Next Time: Countdown_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: The Origin of Calamity**

Zero lingered along through the halls of the Final Weapon. His right arm was limp and wobbly beside his hip, the sword teetering on the edge of falling out of his grasp. His eyes were sagging with a hollow gaze, and he looked more akin to a zombie than a robot. He didn't react to the shakes and tremors coming from the core with anything more than momentary pause.

The images of Iris' corpse, cradled in his arms, refused to leave his sight. He repeated her last words, her sorrow like an unending echo in the caverns of his mind. With not a clue as to why he kept going beyond a sliver of reasoning manifesting as two words 'Help X', Zero dragged his feet along until he was mere feet away from the door to the core.

There he had seen signs of conflict brewing. The door had been ripped through by a scythe, and heat seeped forth in the form of waves of moisture. Stepping next to the laid out scythe, Zero looked down and at a snail's pace picked it from the ground and gave it a look over. Upon seeing a yellow sideway "W" with the motif of a wolf added to it, his body froze up in shock.

"No…I-It can't be!" He growled through gritted teeth. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was unexplainable to someone like him. Anger boiled inside of his body as the worthlessness of Doppler's sacrifice came to mind, and with rage as his fuel Zero's grip on the scythe tightened until it snapped in two like a twig. The energy of the blade fizzled out, and after throwing the pieces against the wall Zero ran straight for the door.

He forced his way through but stopped on a dime as the floor was nowhere to be seen. His feet tipped halfway off the edge and he slammed his hands against the rims of the door to suspend himself. His eyes gazed down at the basement, where he found X struggling to raise his buster against a titanic, monstrous Sigma.

Standing above, that repugnant face of Sigma's plastered atop the drone's head appeared as though it was staring right up at Zero, his expression smug as could be. Zero curled his lips up into a bitter scowl and the sides of the door creaked and bent out.

" _Why…?! WHY?!"_ Zero's rage boiled over, and without a second thought he lunged off the edge of the door and landed behind X with sword swung out and an indescribable glare of fury present on his face. He gripped the blade in both hands and held it before his waist, grabbing the attention of both X and Sigma, the latter cracking a small grin.

"Ah, so the guest of honor has finally arrived…It has been a while, Zero."

"Zero?" X looked at his friend with worry. His worst fears appeared to be realized upon glancing at his friend's tired, broken face. The circumstances of why did not matter, there was no doubt that Zero had been forced to kill Iris with his own hands. Sigma seemed aware of that matter as well, as he stared down the crimson Hunter and wasted no time in taunting him without mercy.

"But you don't look as well as you were before. Where is that confidence? That passion? Your **heart**?" Sigma's grin widened with malicious intent, watching as Zero grit his teeth and trembled, unable to look the Maverick in the eyes.

"You…you're responsible for this whole mess, aren't you?!" Zero's rage burst forth at the end of an otherwise subdued inquiry. Sigma's mouth opened like greased up hinges, and he responded with a slow, pleasured tone "Why yes Zero. I'm the one responsible for the manipulation of Repliforce…But the Maverick Virus, the chaos that has consumed this world? The origin of that is much closer than you realize…"

"…Tsk!" The side of Zero's lips curled up into a scowl, and he tightened the grip on his blade with a twist of his fingers. X stared at him, at a loss for what to say as he watched his friend be consumed by his own rage and despair.

"Colonel…Iris…You killed them both! It's all your fault…everything is always your fault! So why…why do you still get to live on you goddamn bastard?!"

"Hahahaha…Don't be so humble now Zero. After all, I have YOU to thank for this." Such a callous and curt response broke Zero's last bit of patience. He swung his head up with irises shrunk and a furious pair of creases down his cheeks. He swung his sword up above his head and roared without restraint.

"SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGMAAAAAAAAAA!"

Zero broke into a dash towards Sigma, abandoning all pretenses of his careful persona even as the barrel of Sigma's cannon was staring him down. Were it not for the sudden swing of X's arm in his path, Zero would have ran straight for his demise.

With a rough halt as the arm rammed into Zero's chest, the crimson Hunter grabbed down onto X's hand and tried to push it aside, staring his friend in the face and yelling "Get out of my way X!"

"Stop it Zero! Don't let him get to you!" A firm and kind hand was the last thing Zero wanted. In fact, it just made the Hunter stay furious, only now he directed it towards his friend.

"Stop?! You can't be serious X! After all this monster's done, he doesn't DESERVE any mercy! Or are you saying you don't care that Colonel and Iris died?! Or how about Dr. Cain, or Doppler?! How many of our allies is Sigma going to be responsible for killing until you've decided enough is enough?!"

"I do care that they died! It's horrible what Sigma's done and I'll never forgive him for any of it! But you've always told me to stay focused during a mission, so I'm not just going to stand by and let your rage get you killed! I'm not going to lose another friend today, Zero!"

"F-Friend…?" Zero's body got lighter for just a moment, as though all the anger inside had been washed away. Taking a step back, Zero stared at his friend's stern yet calm expression and with a tense wiggle of his lips a smile was forced onto him as he remarked "Heh, now you're lecturing **me**?"

Opening his eyes a bit, Zero whispered under his breath "You always were the better Hunter, X." X's brows perked up and he made a quick hum of surprise. Zero's then slanted his brows and put on a more serious but relaxed expression. He could still sense an anger buried within himself along with a confusion he could not explain, but he was not going to let those emotions take control of his actions.

" _There'll be time to sort that out later…"_ Zero drew his sword at his hip and looked up at Sigma, who let out a quiet but gleeful laugh. The left side of Sigma's face stretched up as he remarked "Over so soon? A pity…I was beginning to feel nostalgic."

Zero shifted his gaze a bit to the left and said "X, you're in no condition to fight. Figure out how to shut down the core, I'll take care of Sigma." X shook his head a bit and proclaimed "I'm not leaving you behind again! We'll fight together!"

"There's no time! The Final Weapon could go off any minute!" With one final, firm reminder from Zero, X gave no further objections and with a hesitant gulp nodded his head and looked to the left. Seeing a door behind Sigma, X made a run for it, using the remains of his energy to go faster than Sigma could react.

However, the Maverick floated in place and made no attempt to budge even an inch, causing Zero to point his sword at him and remark "What, not in the mood to stop him?" Sigma grinned and remarked "It's not MY duty to eliminate X. At least it won't be soon enough…"

"Enough of your mind games Sigma. This satellite will be your grave!"

"Oh Zero. Poor, poor naïve Zero…What leads you to believe that I am lying? Is it denial? Guilt? Or perhaps you worry about what would happen if X were to discover the truth about who you really are, and what your true purpose is."

Zero's eyes widened for a moment before he stated "You don't know anything about me."

"Hahaha…Hahahaha! I know more about you than even you do! But I suppose I can't blame you…After all, our first encounter seems to have wiped your memory clean of how monstrous you were before!"

As Sigma's taunts continued, Zero's thoughts were eclipsed by feelings of hesitation. A smirk crossed his face for a second from a painful recollection of the past, where he saw corpses of Reploids lying below his dirtied hands. His sword lowered and Sigma remarked with intrigue "Or…perhaps you do?"

"Hahaha! Shall I enlighten you?" Sigma asked with a smile as Zero struggled to raise his sword, his mind being assaulted with continuous images that reflected bits of what the Maverick was about to describe.

" _It was years ago. I remember it being around the time Mavericks came into prominence, and Dr. Cain formed the first division of Maverick Hunters with me as it's leader. My team was sent in to deal with an unknown threat inside of a worn down laboratory in the eastern region. A scouting party went first, but were destroyed in a matter of minutes."_

" _Then a second team was sent inside, a combat unit to be precise. We lost contact with them as well. It was at that point that I made the decision to investigate the laboratory on my own. I walked in and was surprised by what I had discovered. There was technology in there on par with some of the stuff developed today, but there was deterioration that suggested that the lab had been abandoned for a hundred years."_

" _But none of it compared to the crown jewel buried deep inside. See, when I arrived in the center of the lab I came across an open capsule and the bodies of my men scattered around. They had been torn apart, their fluids strewn about like a small pond. Assuming there was a squadron of Mavericks waiting to ambush me, I drew my sword and waited for the enemy to show themselves."_

" _My wait was short, and my enemy's appearance sudden. I had little time to wrap my head around what was happening as my enemy leaped onto my back and tried to cave my head in with their bare hands. Their strength was immense, but mine was equal enough that I was capable of throwing them off. Yet when I tossed my foe to the ground, I could not even begin to describe the severity of my surprise."_

" _My foe was not many, but just one. One being managed to slaughter an entire crew of trained Reploids as though they were bugs. And now, they were to set their sights on me. The fiend lunged at me like a hungered beast, merciless and without pause. Even I, the first and strongest Reploid, struggled to stay on my toes as I parried his frenzied attacks."_

" _It wasn't just their hands. They ripped pipes from the walls and used them as makeshift swords as though it was second nature to them. In time, our battle tore the very laboratory apart, leaving it even more unrecognizable than it was before. And then, for the first time in my life, I received a wound. Two scars over my eyes, a wound that was later healed by my exposure to the Maverick Virus, and then again inflicted upon me permanently by X's power."_

" _When that scar was inflicted, I grew angry, furious in fact! I lunged out at the monster and smashed the jewel on their forehead, and in that moment changed this world of ours forever. Smashing that jewel placated the threat for the time being, and I crawled out of the laboratory the victor. Seeing the power of that monster, I decided to bring them back to HQ for that fool Cain to examine. No, rather…I HAD to do that."_

" _For you see, something awakened inside of me on that day. It was a release, if you would prefer, from the shackles of obedience to humanity. I began to realize the flawed potential of mankind, and how the Reploids were better suited to rule over it than they were. Humanity is stagnant, while all Reploids have the potential to evolve beyond what we are now. The key to evolution lies within two machines…X, whose power has to potential to grow infinitely…And you, Zero, the originator of the Maverick Virus!"_

Zero's recollection stopped the moment he saw Sigma's fist flying towards his face in the past. He jolted back a little and moved a hand away from his head, mumbling in disbelief "I-I…was the originator of the Maverick Virus?!" He swung his sword up at Sigma, attempting to stay stern in denial of everything that was said.

"Like I'll believe anything you have to say Sigma!"

"But isn't it curious that the Maverick outbreak increased exponentially around the time you were recruited to the Maverick Hunters? You cannot tell me you never questioned that, right?"

Zero glanced aside for a brief moment and then thrust his gaze back at Sigma, who raised his brows and laughed with deepened glee for a few seconds.

"Why do you deny your true self Zero? Back when I first met you, you reveled in the joy of your own insanity. You were free, untamed by any pathetic 'human' inhibitions. If you returned to the way you were before, you'd never have to be conflicted again! Then, you'd be able to make all the humans pay for what they did! You could avenge Colonel and Iris!"

"It is your destiny to destroy everything! It has been since the day you were born! That is the will of your creator, the will of Wi-"

Zero swung his sword out in one long broad arc, missing the lip of Sigma's weapon as he pulled it aside. The Hunter clasped the blade before his face as his body was twisted a little back, and with the sword pointed at Sigma's head he exclaimed "I'll never turn Maverick! You're wasting your time, Sigma!"

"Oh, I don't think I have…I've severed the ties that bind you to humanity one after the other. When the final thread is cut, you will have no CHOICE but to return to the way you were before! That is…" Sigma raised his weapon at Zero and finished "Assuming you can survive!"

He fired a laser from the barrel that Zero swung his sword up to deflect. The lasers lashed around the length of the blade and splashed against his legs and arms. Sigma pulled back and swiveled himself to the left side of the room, where he then thrust himself to the other side in one fell swoop while throwing a string of bombs from his left hand.

Zero hopped to the back of the wall and was nicked by the edge of the foremost explosions, throwing off his response time in regards to leaping off. Sigma clasped his cannon before his chest and fired another blast, pressing Zero against the wall until a thick, two foot dent was formed off of his back.

As the energy scattered from the laser, Zero fell to the ground with smoke covering his body and one knee dropped. That leg wobbled as he pushed himself to his feet and dashed towards Sigma, shifting left to right to dodge his weaving laser fire until he could leap for his head. He thrust with complete dedication to the attack, only to be cut off by a reddish blur that appeared right before himself and took the stab in Sigma's place.

It was a mechanical head made in the effigy of Sigma's own, and as Zero pulled his sword free from the forehead the head opened it's mouth and set loose a flamethrower that spread out across the floor. Zero threw his sword down and used the handle as a stand to keep himself away from the flames. He then took a couple shots at the red head with his buster until it vanished.

Sigma pointed the cannon at the ground and fired the laser at it, bringing the weapon up in one swift raise so it'd spread the energy across the length of the room. Zero flipped off to the left and his sword was blown back into the wall. He swung his head back then ran for the wall while Sigma recharged, only for a second head to show itself in between him and the wall. It was yellow, and opened it's mouth to throw a couple electric orbs at the ground.

Zero leaped over them and grabbed the front of the head, pulling himself up and over it to get to his sword. He wrenched it from the wall and turned around, stabbing down into the head before it could vanish. Electric sparked out and the head dropped to the ground, giving Zero three seconds to get off before it blew up.

Zero focused on the wires coming out from behind Sigma and clenched his sword in his right hand before dashing right at it. Anticipating Sigma's reaction, Zero readied his blade and leaped up when the cannon was pointed at his face. He sliced through the barrel with an uppercut slice and the energy sparked out, forcing Sigma to withdraw his weapon and swing a series of bombs to the ground.

Zero stabbed the ground and created an icicle as cover from the explosions, and when that was blown up he swung his sword up and created an electric whip from it to latch around the cannon. He gave it a hard tug and wrenched the weapon free from Sigma's grasp, breaking part of the hand off in the process.

Sigma twisted his body around and swiped his other hand at the ground, grabbing Zero up and slamming him against the ceiling. He then flips his hand around and pounds him back down, pressing him against the floor enough for it to start cracking. Zero grunted and groaned, pushing his right arm up to fight against the crushing hand.

Sigma broke into laughter even as Zero was able to make enough space for him to use his sword to cut his palm and free himself. He then turned around and went right for the wires on the Maverick's back.

"Yes! Unleash your strength! Awaken your true self, Zero!" Sigma's eyes glowed, summoning a red and now a blue head in Zero's path. Both of them opened their mouths and unleashed a fused torrent of flames and hardened ice, giving Zero no choice but to leap to the left, where he met with the back of Sigma's hand and was sent back into the fusion beam.

He swung his sword to the right and sliced through the beam, slamming his feet at the ground and managing to surf past the beam with one clean cut, though it was a narrow success over the attack. He then ran past the side of the beam and stab his blade through the wires, only for him to also be struck by a pair of spikes that thrust out from the sides of the blue head.

Zero left arm and leg received a deep gash that was an inch away from emerging on the other side, yet in spite of those wounds he had already succeeded in separating Sigma from the wall. The drone crashed to the ground, blowing the two heads aside along with summoning a huge plume of dust to cover the room.

Zero laid a hand on his arm wound and closed his eyes, waiting for the dust to subside as Sigma showed no signs of movement. In the midst of catching his breath, Zero heard the sound of metal scraping out of the wall behind him and glanced back, noticing how a set of spikes now plastered it.

He leaped back, only for a strong gale to press against him the second he landed. Inches away from the spikes, Zero bent and stabbed his sword down as the dust spread out of sight, allowing him to glance over his shoulder. Sigma's body was gone, and at the end of the room was a large, bulbous mass of metal and tubes shaped to look like his head. With an agape mouth, Sigma's laughter echoed across the room and shook it's foundation to the core.

The laughter replaced the gale that kept Zero at bay, giving the Hunter only a few seconds to pick himself up and sprint towards Sigma's nightmarish visage. The remaining two heads appeared in Zero's path with fire and ice at their beck and call, but with neither a care on his mind the Hunter tightened his blade around the fingers and ripped through the heads with one single, precise strike.

The heads quit floating and crashed backwards, exploding as Zero ran past them and went straight for Sigma, who opened his mouth wide and creaking and sent forth an even stronger gale to perplex his pursuer. Zero stabbed his sword down and held his ground, even as he was pushed back inch by inch.

Zero was losing the struggle with every passing second, and any attempt to move forward was met with an unconquerable resistance from the wind. Sigma's motionless eyes were ever focused on the Hunter, and his gloating echoed throughout the chambers.

"Is this the best you can do Zero?! How do you expect to destroy your eternal nemesis when you're this weak?!"

"S-Shut up!" Zero grunted as he lifted his head up, assaulted by a stronger gale that left him deafened for a moment.

"Perhaps you need a little reminder of what your purpose is! Zero! Accept a portion of the gift you delivered unto me!" Sigma exclaimed, and from his mouth shot out three phantasmal purple copies of his head that were absorbed into Zero's body without resistance.

Zero's eyes widened, and his body stiffened into a catatonic state. He was swallowed up within a nightmare he had experienced many times recently, where he was awakening from his capsule to be greeted by a strange man whose identity he had never discerned. The same words were repeated to him down to the letter, but as he got near the end he was able to hear more of what the strange man had to say. At the same time, Sigma glared at him and cackled.

"Yes! You DO remember him! Deep down, the memories of your creator and purpose haven't died! You've denied who you are this whole time Zero, but now you shall be awakened! Remember your purpose, Zero! You were built…"

" **TO DESTROY MEGA MAN X!"**

The unison of outcries between the man in Zero's memories and Sigma broke the Hunter out of whatever trance he had with an uncontrolled scream. He stood up and defied the strength of the gale with his hands gripping the sides of his head and his body in pain. A red-purple aura surrounded his body and he swung his head around, stumbling back all on his own while the two's laughter assaulted his ears.

After a few excruciating seconds, Zero lowered his head against his chest and his arms drooped beside the hips. His body throbbed and the aura was absorbed into him. There were a few seconds of pause until Zero's arm gravitated towards his sword and he ripped it from the ground. He took one heavy step forward, advancing a few inches against the gale. Sigma's face creaked as he grinned from cheek to cheek, watching as Zero got ever closer.

Soon enough the Hunter was right in front of him, a trail of dents left in his wake. He lifted his head up and swung the sword beside it, his eyes as red as his armor, and then swung it down like it was some manner of blunt instrument onto Sigma's head. The Maverick broke into greater laughter as Zero vented his frustration out on him without mercy, tearing apart each individual wire and plate of metal as though he was a butcher hacking away at a pile of meat.

Zero was not in control of himself and kept going at Sigma's head with all his strength, wanting to leave not even a trace of carbon left in this Maverick's body by the time he was through. As he got closer to the core of this body, Zero's mouth began to open and his eyes were brightened with glee. And then, Sigma's laughter was drowned out by Zero's own, as it bellowed out from the confines of his body. Cracking, rancorous, this laughter came from a being far removed from the type of person Zero usual was.

The Hunter's vision turned red, and instead of Sigma he began to see X before him. His comrade, torn asunder of all his limbs and armor, stared at his friend and the sword he brought down without emotion or life in his eyes. The blade, mere inches from carving this visage in two, hesitated at the tip of X's chin and began to shake.

Zero stepped back, grabbing the side of his head with one hand and dropping his blade at the tips of his toes. His eyes turned back to normal, and he grunted through gritted teeth. After a couple shakes of the head, he focused at the ground. There was just a pool of scraps spread out across the floor, with not a sound coming from any of them. Looking around, the chamber was filled with an eerie quiet, and Zero had expected Sigma to pop back up any time. But that moment would never come to pass…

" _What did he…do to me?"_

Before he could get a grip on the situation, the Final Weapon shook with such intensity that it was a surprise it didn't come apart at the seams. Along with these tremors, a siren blared "WARNING! TWO MINUTES REMAIN UNTIL THE FINAL WEAPON ACTIVATES! PLEASE EVACUATE THE CORE IMMEDIATELY!"

"Oh no…X!" Zero's priorities shifted towards the safety of his friend, and with a degree of hesitation he picked his sword off the ground and placed it on his back before running straight towards the control room on the other side of the chamber…

 _Next Time: A Farewell to Arms_


	16. Final Chapter

**Final Chapter: Pyrrhic Victory**

Zero ran into the core's control room, the only floor coming in the midst of this vast expanse being a small solitary bridge leading to the control computer. X was typing madly away at the keyboard, inputting dozens of codes to no avail. As he slammed his fists against the keyboard in frustration, Zero walked up to him from behind and remarked "Not having any luck X?"

The Hunter looked back and was both surprised and relieved to see his friend alive, though his eyes focused towards the wounds in his arm and leg. Zero hid the arm gash with his hand as X slanted his brows and shook his head, telling him with a disheartened murmur "No. I don't think there's a way to manually shut down the cannon once it's activated…"

"You've got to be kidding me…!" Zero growled, the grip of his hand around his arm tightening as their efforts seemed all for naught. He looked past the computer and saw plates falling off the ceiling as the floor spread open like the petals of a flower, energy pulsating down the wires attached around the circumference of a massive laser cannon.

The Earth, pure and blue, sat directly below them, minutes away from being struck by the full, destructive force of the laser. Sigma, even in defeat, was soon to be victorious, and Zero knew not what to do.

Yet, as he looked as his friend, he saw an eerie calm on his face, and a small smile caressed the edges of his cheeks. X, slowly extending his hand out, commented to his friend "Zero…Thank you for everything."

Zero's eyes widened, with a slight nudge of his face forward he stuttered "W-What are you saying X?" X, with an expression full of certainty in his own thoughts, responded plain as day "There's still one way to stop the Final Weapon. I'll put all my remaining energy into a single charged shot, and I should be able to overload the cannon and destroy it."

"Don't be ridiculous X! It'd work, but you'd destroy yourself in the process! I should be the one-!"

"Zero, your buster isn't as strong as mine." X said, laying a hand on top his right hand as it transformed. "I'm the only one who can do this."

Zero planted his hands on X's shoulders and grabbed onto them tighter than a pair of crab claws, looking him straight in the eyes and exclaiming "You're giving up too easily! There has to be another way! I'm not about to lose another comrade, no way in hell!"

X paused, looking into Zero's trembling eyes and teeth-gritted scowl. The frustration and anguish in his friend manifested through his stance, and spread around him with such prominence it could not be ignored. For a second, X's decision was met with hesitation on his part, and his buster trembled under his palm.

"And you won't have to. I'll take care of the cannon."

X and Zero gasped and looked out to the left of the bridge as General flew by them, barely suspending himself with the one rocket boot he had left. He was in no condition to move, let alone speak, yet he advanced towards the cannon as though he was as spry as when he was first built.

X spun around and turned his buster back to a hand, thrusting it out as General went past the length of the bridge and exclaiming "General! What do you think you're doing?!"

"I will activate my self-destruct program in close proximity to the cannon! The ensuing blast will overload the processed 'Bassnium' and bring down the entire Final Weapon! But I cannot do it until you two get clear of the core! Otherwise, you will not have enough time to escape!"

"You can't do this General!" X said, even as Zero grabbed onto his right arm and began to tug him away. General lifted his head up high and proud, his vision distorted with static and his body as heavy as a tank.

"…Thank you, X, for everything…But this is my atonement for all the mistakes I have made. Now, I will finally be able to follow my comrades into the afterlife…"

X's other hand grabbed the end of the computer and he struggled to break free from Zero's grip as he urged him to get moving. The Hunter stared out at the General's back as he moved further away, until he was so far gone that his voice would no longer reach even if he yelled as loud as he could.

Closing his eyes with a trembling scowl, X turned his head and then pulled back, Zero letting go of his arm as the two ran for the exit. General glanced over his shoulder and saw their departure. The tremors worsened, dislodging chunks of metal and clouds of dust that fell atop General's body as he floated before the core.

Looking down, he gazed upon the magnificence of the Earth and closed his eyes, holding his hand out to dig into the plating of the cannon. His body heated up until his skin radiated with a light crimson glow, and all other noises went silent save for his thoughts.

" _Cain…Are you watching? I'm sorry…Even if I was flesh and blood like you, my sins cannot be forgiven. All I can do now…is put all my hopes and dreams in the hands of those two brave Hunters, so they can protect this beautiful world of ours. Farewell, old friend…"_

After a drawn out silence, General's body exploded in a fiery blast that spread out across the expanse of the entire core, disintegrating all that was unfortunate to get in it's path. Even a mile away from the core already, X and Zero could hear and feel the explosion as it rocked the Final Weapon with a magnitude greater than any quake back on Earth.

The two kept their footing with the help of nearby bars, but the tremors continued to flourish throughout the satellite as it began to tear itself apart with small explosions across the entire place. Zero looked to his friend and exclaimed with urgency as he helped him up "Come on! Get moving!"

They ran in a haste, even as their joints were cracking from the weariness of their never-ending battles. There was no opposition, the satellite was empty sans the two of them, and even with the Final Weapon breaking down they were able to find their way back to the docks within a matter of minutes. Their shuttles were still around, and they each leapt into one and set the jets to full throttle within a couple seconds.

Shooting right out of the docks as it was consumed by a massive fireball, the two bobbed and weaved past the breaking debris until they were miles away from the Final Weapon. Thirty seconds later, the whole thing split apart, devoured by one climatic explosion that could have dented even the surface of the moon.

The flames whittled and died in the vacuum of space with an empty silence, their presence only seen in the reflection of the windows to X and Zero's shuttles. After a few seconds of looking back on the destruction of the Final Weapon, the two set their ships to auto-pilot and let themselves get carried back to Earth. X leaned back in his seat and let out a dry sigh, his body as empty as a filled balloon but heavier than the ship itself.

As his friend took a momentary rest, Zero rested his hands on the arms of his chair and dug his fingers into the end of them tightly. His body twitched and his lips formed a tense grimace. He wanted to relax, ignore all that just happened, but his mind refused to give him that leeway. Colonel, Iris, their deaths forever tainting his conscience. But worst of all was what Sigma had told him, that it was his destiny to destroy X.

It had seemed to be nothing more than a lie constructed by Sigma to trick him…Except there was no way those memories planted inside his mind could have been fabricated. The only person who had ever worked on him was Doppler and Cain, and they never would have modified his memories.

"I-It can't be…! Why would I…why would I be built to destroy X?!" Zero exclaimed while gripping the sides of his head, trying to force those horrid memories away.

"Z…Z…Zero…? Come in! Zero!" X's voice came in over the intercom, snapping Zero out of his distress for a brief but crucial moment. He leaned forward and tapped the button to communicate with his partner.

"…I'm here X. What's up?" He responded calmly.

"How are you holding up?"

Zero leaned back a little and crossed his arms against the chest, closing his eyes and hiding his distress behind a cold exterior "I'm fine X. In fact, I should be the one asking **you** that. What the heck was up with that behavior back in the core?"

X was silent for a few seconds save for a few barely audible hums, prompting Zero to dig deeper into the problem "I don't need you copying my earlier sacrifice X. The world still needs you to protect it, don't tell me you've forgotten that."

Over in X's shuttle, the Hunter closed his eyes a bit and looked out towards the planet, responding with a brief stutter "O-Of course not, but…This whole thing has got me thinking Zero…About what it truly means to be a Maverick. It isn't just about being infected with the virus. Colonel, General…all of Repliforce, they were deemed Mavericks by the people they were working for just because of their different views of the world."

"…Yeah, it's true, but what Repliforce tried to do was wrong."

"I'm not saying it's not, but…If they were trusted in the first place, would they have ever turned on their own?"

"Probably not. But X, I don't see how any of this has to do with what you did."

"Well, no, it doesn't but…It's still got me worried. What if…what if the humans were trying to protect turn on us as well? I would still fight to protect them even still, but wouldn't that make me no different than Repliforce?"

"Haaaa…" A deep sigh from Zero penetrated X's shuttle, and he told him bluntly right after "You're thinking too hard about this X. Sigma is the one who manipulated things to turn the government and us against Repliforce. It was a plan to cull our forces and it succeeded…If the government actually have it in them to learn for this, they won't be stupid enough to try and turn on their last line of defense against the Mavericks."

"But Zero…Who will protect the humans and Reploids if **I** were to turn Maverick?"

"Wha…?" Zero opened his eyes and leaned forward, responding to the inquiry with abject confusion "You? Turning Maverick? Don't be ridiculous X."

"Anyone has the chance of becoming Maverick, Zero. I'm no exception. And…Sigma always said my potential is infinite. All it takes is wrong move, and I'll become a threat to the world. That's why I thought it'd be ok to sacrifice myself back there, because then I would-"

"Look, if for some reason you WERE to turn Maverick, then you can count on me to knock some sense back into you, even if it means putting you down." Zero said in a hurry but with confidence, to which X could be heard letting out a surprised gasp. Closing his eyes, the crimson Hunter leaned back and said on a more melancholy note "But, you have to promise me something X."

Reflecting upon the memories he saw, Zero took it upon himself to task X with a duty that he could only entrust to someone that close to him "If I become a Maverick first, then I want you to destroy me, and leave no traces behind for someone to repair."

"Zero…" X whispered, but didn't seem all that surprised to hear such words from his friend. Even so, he could only response with a hesitant "I-I have to think about it, ok?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day. Lets just get back to base and tell them what happened. Hopefully this time we've seen the last of Sigma." Zero grabbed onto the controls as the two entered the atmosphere, and the rest of their trip is left in silence between the Hunters.

 _So X and Zero returned to Maverick Hunter HQ, hailed as heroes for the defeat of Repliforce and the destruction of the Final Weapon. After the two went through quick repairs, they reported directly to the Commander about what had happened. Having learned the truth about the conflict and how foolish he was for not realizing it sooner, the Commander willingly chose to resign from his position._

 _In his place, Signas was promoted to the rank of Commander, for his valiant leadership of the Maverick Hunters along with a prior recommendation from the late Dr. Cain. In light of the news that Sigma had returned once again, the Maverick Hunters looked to Dr. Isoc for help in preparing a stronger anti-virus, but he was nowhere to be found…_

 _Worse than that, no one was able to get in contact with the human government, leading to concerns that something had happened to them. Sure enough, an investigation soon after revealed that each of the government leaders had been assassinated…A whole month before the Repliforce incident had occurred. And the culprit? The Shadow Corps, the government's "trusted" Reploid force._

 _There was no avoiding the release of this information after that. The news spread across the globe like wildfire, inciting mass pandemonium the likes of which rivaled what happened after the Repliforce incident. Reploids were dismantled by fearful crowds, and humans were killed by those who either grew tired of playing nice or out of self-defense._

 _The number of Mavericks greatly increased, but with Repliforce dwindled down to just a few forces and the Maverick Hunters low on resources there was little anyone could do to stop this outrage except buckle down and hope for the best. After a couple weeks, the second-in-commands for the government took their position and guided their people to try and calm down, but considering what had happened to the previous leaders there was doubt that these replacements were the genuine article._

 _The riots turned towards the government, which while tragic in nature did give X and Zero a chance to help quell the uprising of new Mavericks for a brief period. But for all their efforts, they were just two Hunters, and eventually they reached their limits and were forced to return to HQ more and more often._

 _After about two months of this chaos, things died down to more manageable levels, but not without a sense that this paranoia would cause an even greater incident to unfold later down the road. Thankfully, Skiver of Repliforce, pardoned for his involvement due to turning against Storm Owl's fleet, was able to take over Repliforce and organize the remains to help the Maverick Hunters combat the rising Mavericks._

 _He was the only one to try and set up a memorial for his fallen comrades, regretting his decision to fight against them even if it was for entirely just reasons. On his off time, Zero would pay a visit to this memorial and lay an iris down on a certain statue, leaving Skiver wondering where the flowers came from…_

 _There were no sightings of Sigma during this time, and everyone presumed that even if he survived the destruction of the Final Weapon he would have had no way to re-enter the planet without his viral form disintegrating in the atmosphere. But X could not shake the feeling that there was something he was missing…_

 _ **Three months after the Repliforce incident…**_

X walked through the Maverick Hunter HQ by his lonesome. He was heading to the command center, wanting to check and see if there was anything he could do for today. Zero was off doing a mission, leaving him alone for the first time in what seemed like forever. Since he was without an operator again, X had to go around the whole command center to get a lead on any Maverick activity.

Walking into the room, he saw everyone hard at work at their seats, all of which were filled. Focusing on the one Alia and Double once sat in, X walked over to it first, drawn by a sense of nostalgia and regret. His gaze moved towards the chair Iris sat in, and he realized that Zero hadn't talked at all about his final moments with her over the last few months. It was an issue he chose not to pursue, for both their sakes…

Laying a hand on the back of the chair with eyes shut and a heavy heart, X remarked "I'm looking for a mission. Have there been any Maverick sightings lately?"

"Nothing at the moment X. Come back later."

X turned with a nod of the head and a remark of thanks, but something about the voice he heard gave him pause. A few steps away, he jerked his head back and heard the person at the chair giggling quietly.

"Wait a second…It couldn't be…" X jerked his head back and watched as the chair spun around. With her signature smile and thumbs-up greeting him was Alia, wearing a headset whose mic she lowered with her left hand. X's expression, which had been tired and a bit sour over the last few months, brightened up with a smile and he ran to up her.

"Alia?! Where have you been? When did you get back?"

"It's good to see you again X. I just came back yesterday, and Signas had me fill in my old operator seat right away." Alia paused for a moment to glide her hand towards the front of her chin, and with a warm giggle she corrected herself "Though, I guess I should be calling him 'Commander' now, huh?"

"You've missed out on a lot." X said with a hint of humor mixed into an otherwise melancholic statement. Alia nodded her head but assured him with a more heavy tone "Yeah, I've already read all the reports…I'll offer my condolences to Zero later."

"Yeah. I think he'd appreciate it. And he'll be glad to see you again."

Alia nodded her head and then told him "But for now…You wanted to know where I've been, right?"

"Yeah. It's been almost a year…" X said, surprised a bit at how much time has passed since the incident with Doppler. Alia glanced left and right and then wiggled her fingers towards herself at a befuddled X. With a slow swivel of her chair, she typed into the computer so fast her fingers could not be seen. X stood at her side and leaned in, watching as inputted a long, unintelligible code into her system.

"Remember that database you infiltrated? The one Cyber Peacock destroyed?"

"Yeah. If it wasn't for that lead, we never would have discovered what Repliforce was up to."

"Well…I'm the one who told Zero to give you that lead." Alia admitted with a small, embarrassed smile on her face. X looked at her in surprise, and said "T-That was you?"

"No need to thank me X. I was just doing the right thing. Anyways…Though the database was destroyed, I was able to find and repair part of the core, and decided to try and salvage whatever information I could from it."

"Find anything interesting?"

"Not much. Most of it was advertisements clumped together…What I DID find, however, was behind all that data. It's a news article from over a hundred years ago."

"Huh? I thought most information from that time period was lost."

"You heard about that? Yeah, it's true that most physical records of that time were either burned or buried, a lot of it was stored inside databases for safe keeping. The most top secret files, of course, are under government surveillance. Though…I can't understand why they'd want to keep THIS one a secret…It'd only be relevant to you, X."

Finally done typing, Alia backs off and lets X scan the article that appeared. In his mind, he read it out. However…

" **Famous Robotics Expert Dr. Thomas Light Commits Suicide Via House Fire."**

" _W-What…?"_

Though taken aback, X's eyes kept moving from line to line, unable to pull away.

" _On the year 20XX, authorities discovered the charred remains of the home of renowned scientist Dr. Light, along with his burnt corpse. Investigation revealed the ashes of a match in his right hand, indicating it was a suicide. Rumors have run abound as to what would have driven him to these extremes, but many suspect that it has to do with the destruction of his greatest creation, the hero known as…"_

"Mega…Man…?" X whispered, his gaze fixated on the picture of a blue robot with a very similar build to his own. Mouth agape, X found a dozen or so questions plaguing his mind, but with no way to answer them…

 **THE END?**


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue: A Wish for Destruction**

Deep within the shadows, in a location very few people know of, a being works tirelessly at an operating table. Sparks fly from a torch, brightening the darkness and revealing a tall, lab coat wearing robot with white sideburns and a strange rectangular beard. His solitude was interrupted by a door opening from behind, and a shadowy figure walking in.

"Knew I'd find you here doc." They spoke with a laid-back, casual tone. The "doc" raised his head just an inch and murmured with a bit of impatience "I told you not to disturb me unless it was important."

"Heh. I'll do you one better. I've got TWO important things to report." The person, with a flick of the wrist, whipped out a set of keys and swung it around his pointer finger, creating a nice jingle that he put close to his hearing receptor.

"Gotta hand it to you doc, your plan was solid. Using the peace from Sigma's 'death' to secretly work your way into the government so you could eventually have them killed by my men? Then creating proxies of them to manipulate Repliforce AND the Maverick Hunters so they'd turn against each other? And then using the Final Weapon and Sigma as a DISTRACTION so I could break into an unprotected facility and steal the keys to the Eurasia Space Colony?"

"Heh, guess all that talk about being the most brilliant mind of your time wasn't hot air. I'm glad I decided to throw my chips into your basket. A pity I lost some of my men in the process…Except for Double, that guy was always too much of a loose cannon."

"Hmph, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but the fun has yet to begin. Soon enough, I will let you take the spotlight on this little 'play' of mine, but for now you shall stay hidden in this base."

The person tucked the keys under his bottom fingers and snapped the last two out, saying to him "Right, right…Don't want to alert your other 'partner' that I'm here. Gotcha!" He tucked the keys into his pocket and was about to head out when the "doc" looked over his shoulder and remarked "Hold on…"

"Yeah?"

"You said there were 'two' things you wished to tell me."

With a click of the tongue the person turned around and said "Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me! If there's one thing Double did right, it's send me this juicy bit of info before he died." The person plucked two things from his body and placed one atop the other. With a gentle flick of the wrist, they sent a boomerang flying through the air with a probe on top.

As the boomerang flew by the "doc", he plucked the probe off of it and held it above his palm. The probe projected a video of X speaking to one of the Dr. Light capsules. The person swung his right arm up to catch the boomerang right over his shoulder and commented "Seems that target of yours has a very interesting ally."

A smile crept across the face of the "doc" and he let out a curious, maniacal chuckle.

"So…even you have chosen to defy death, Thomas. How very, very interesting…"

Crushing the probe in his hand, the "doc" swung his right hand out, brushing his lab coat aside as he stated "No matter the era, no matter the place, I will prove my superiority to you yet Thomas! You invest all your cards into one champion, but I have many tools at my disposal to best your champion! And when I am through, it will be MY greatest creation that stands superior to yours, and I will exact my vengeance upon the planet that shunned my brilliance for yours!"

Behind the person was a hulking white mechanical body with a jagged purple cape resting atop a steel framed bed. At the top of the body lied a familiar head, that of the Maverick leader himself, Sigma. And with the words of the "doc" entering his ears, he cracked a smile as wide as his face…

 _To be continued in Clash of the Elements Part 4 EX Story 6: Maverick Hunter X5..._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And at long last, this story is done.

It was a long four months, mostly because I was also working on ANOTHER story during the time, but I'm ultimately satisfied with how this whole thing turned out. Though there was some fatigue in the end, since after Storm Owl each chapter was just battle after battle with nothing really in-between. I'm ashamed to admit it's a bit obvious I was trying to rush through some of these battles near the end, and I apologize if the battles with General and Sigma came off as anti-climatic after Colonel, Double and Iris turned out pretty good, imo.

As far as other details go for this story, the major thing I wanted to do for this story was change what caused the Repliforce conflict. In the original story, I always considered it kind of silly that the conflict happened because Colonel didn't want to hurt his pride. Considering the story portrays Repliforce as someone were supposed to sympathize with, it's hard to do so when this whole conflict could've been avoided if Colonel wasn't a paranoid idiot. So making the slight change of having Repliforce be framed yet keeping their motivations the same, I feel, gets the original point of the story across that Inafune wanted while actually making Repliforce sympathetic.

After that, it was just a matter of differentiating the motives behind the eight Mavericks. The Repliforce commanders were easy enough, and Magma Dragoon I modified a bit considering his original reason for betrayal was a bit goofy and having him being controlled by the Sigma Virus works better as a foreshadowing device for Sigma's return. Cyber Peacock and Split Mushroom...were filler. Honestly, it was a bit hard to keep justifying them being in the plot. At least with Cyber Peacock I had a bit of fun with that considering X wasn't even supposed to be in his domain, but Split Mushroom was just something I couldn't really work into the story well. You'll notice I didn't even give X Split Mushroom's power, which is the first time I've outright avoided that out of all three stories so far.

In the end, I got what I wanted out of this story. Repliforce is gone, Zero's on the road to achieving his destiny, X is starting to question things, and the true mastermind is about to take the spotlight.

...So you're probably wondering why the next story is going to be a part of my main fic cause of that. See, the thing is, I had always planned for part of my story to take place during the X5-era. So instead of sticking to just that, I decided to rewrite X2-X4 using the Maverick Hunter X timeline as a base, that way I could build up to that story. My own characters will be involved in the X5 story, but I assure you there will still be a lot of focus given to X and Zero. After all, their legacies are crucial to X5's entire plot.

So yeah, Maverick Hunter X5 should be out around mid-June, by my estimate. See you then, and thanks for reading!


End file.
